[NYguy]

Originally Posted by k1052

These people seem to mistakenly think the possibility of the old plan being built if they obstruct the new one is just a threat and not a promise.

They probably think they can get some type of concession from the developers, but the new proposal is already an improvement over anything they could possibly get - there will be more open space, no "big box" department stores, and the riverfront won't be walled off by a wall of apartment buildings. Some people don't recognize when they have an unexpected gift (which this is) and just resort to knee-jerk NIMBYism because that is all they know - fight the developer no matter what. They figure if the developer wants it, it must be bad for them.




http://www.nydailynews.com/life-styl...sEnabled=false

Domino delivers! Master plan at former sugar refinery brings park land
and hopefully high-tech jobs to Brooklyn
Project would add outdoor space and convert sugar factory into commercial building





By Jason Sheftell
March 15, 2013

A world-class arena, a hot hoops team, the most vibrant culinary scene in the country, and rising real estate prices — Brooklyn does not want for much.

What it does lack, though, sorely, are companies who think it’s as hip as twentysomethings do and more parks. It would be the fourth-most populous city in the country, but Brooklyn has less parkland per acre than any urban area in the United States. Worse, no big company thinks Brooklyn’s cool enough to lay down serious roots, or money. Yes, the artisan loves the borough, but Queens has a much higher corporate profile. Citibank built a tower in Long Island City. Rolex and JetBlue followed.

Brooklyn talks about becoming a tech hub, but Google lives in Chelsea, and Microsoft is on Sixth Ave. With Starwood, RBS, UBS and the soon-to-relocate website Kayak, Stamford, Conn., has more big companies. That could change soon at the former Domino Sugar factory. Developer Two Trees Management Co. asked lower Manhattan-based architect SHoP to rethink an inherited master plan for Domino, a site they purchased last fall for $185 million. The new plan added outdoor space and will use the historic sugar refinery as a commercial building totaling almost 4,000 jobs.

Leasing the entire property to one large corporate entity might give the borough a boost. Yahoo would look great in purple neon reflecting off the East River. The move to give the mostly housing and retail development over 600,000 square feet of commercial space was a priority for Two Trees, a proponent of emerging companies. “We have all these young people in Brooklyn, but they go to work in Manhattan,” said Jed Walentas, Two Trees principal, whose family developed 3 million square feet of retail, residential and commercial space in DUMBO. “There is something not right about that.”

Brooklyn brass agree. “My biggest fear for Brooklyn in five to 10 years is that we have no office space,” said Carlo A. Scisurra, president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. “Jed is a pioneer. We need more big developers to build office space. Otherwise, no companies will come.”

Walentas also wanted more public space. James Corner Field Operations, who helped design the High Line, will use the drama of the Williamsburg Bridge and waterfront to create a destination where park users can relax and have privacy. The mile-long park is just 100 feet deep. The water’s edge will have one clean, powerful line for pedestrians,” said Lisa ­Switkin, an associate partner with Corner. “The program has functional spaces that will serve as outside rooms. The idea is to create places to linger in.”

This is a huge development encompassing 11 acres, five buildings and 2,284 homes, 660 of which will be for lower to middle income. There will be retail, but no big box, according to Walentas. A 598-foot tower, for which Two Trees has to receive a zoning variance, will spike the development’s southern edge. A public school will be built. In the master plan change most discussed, a new street will connect to the city grid.

“New York needs big developments to stay competitive with cities like Shanghai,” said Vishaan Chakrabarti, a partner at SHoP who worked under Amanda Burden at the NYC Department of City Planning. “We wanted to create a skyline moment but different from Manhattan. That’s why we have holes in the buildings. A strong connection between inland Brooklyn, the complex and the water would open everything up for the neighborhood.”