NEW YORK | South Street Seaport Redevelopment

[chris08876]

Its not a neighborhood killer because it blocks a bunch of yuppies views.

Thats why they are all against it. The old lady two posts above in the audience looks like gollum...

[NYguy]

But all this, he says, will still not be worth it in exchange for Howard Hughes opening the door to "wrap the curtain of high-rises around the neighborhood's fourth wall, erecting a new barrier between the seaport and the world beyond" and being allowed to "treat the neighborhood like a gated community."

[NYguy]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/06/ny...port.html?_r=0

Finding Glamour, Not Grit, at South Street Seaport





JAN. 5, 2015
By MATT A. V CHABAN

......What remains of the abandoned market, now a parking lot, is set for redevelopment. The plans include a glistening new mall out on the pier and, in place of the New Market Building,
a rippling apartment tower nearly 500 feet tall, surging above the freeway like a crystalline tall ship.

Ms. Mensch lost interest in the seaport long ago, at least artistically. She has turned much of her focus to the Brooklyn Bridge, which feels almost close enough to touch from the six-foot-high
windows of her apartment. Even so, like many of the old-timers, what few of them there ever were in this largely commercial area, she cannot shake her misgivings about the new development.

“I’m not a nostalgist, I swear,” Ms. Mensch said. “The question is, what are we going to replace these institutions with? What are we going to do keep the character of our neighborhoods?
Do we really need another mall or high-rise?”

She is not alone. Manhattan Community Board 1 has been critical of the proposal, and on Monday evening its landmarks committee passed a resolution opposing a number of aspects
of the project. The decision was advisory, with nothing official expected for months.

At the same time, many of Ms. Mensch’s new neighbors in the faux-historical shops and condos have embraced the plans for the upscale amenities they will bring.

[sparkling]

Committee eyes bigger historic district to sink Seaport tower

Tess Hofmann
January 06, 2015

Community Board 1’s Special Landmarks Committee presented its resolution regarding Howard Hughes Corporation’s South Street Seaport development — and it includes an end run that would effectively derail the project.

The panel wants the Landmarks Preservation Commission to extend historic district boundaries to include the site of the development’s showpiece, a 494-foot tower.

As of now, the committee has no say over the tower site, which sits outside of historic district bounds. The New Market building, which is currently on the site, would be demolished to make way for the structure. Howard Hughes Corp. scaled back plans for the tower from 52 stories to 42 stories in November after facing community and city opposition.

The remainder of the resolution mixed support for the project with concerns. The committee endorsed dismantling the Tin Building and constructing a new building using certain original elements, but did not support a one-story addition. Hughes’ Chris Curry said that the space would be used for “cultural” purposes, but the committee does not govern uses, Curbed reported.

The panel also had initial concerns about a canopy overhanging to be constructed over the roof field on the Pier 17 mall, but was convinced to support it. CB1’s Special Landmarks Committee passed the resolution 10-0, clearing the way for it to go before the entire community board on Jan. 26. The result of that meeting will determine the recommendation sent to the Landmarks Preservation Commission - See more at: http://therealdeal.com/blog/2015/01/....CVEJCdUO.dpuf

More details at http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2015/0...port_tower.php

[NYguy]

http://www.downtownexpress.com/2015/...rt-tower-foes/

Downtowner who’s friendly to foes of the Seaport tower will join the Landmarks Commission


January 21, 2015
Josh Rogers

A local leader who has lent a sympathetic ear to South Street Seaport preservationists fighting the proposed development project there, has just been tapped to join the city Landmarks Preservation Commission — the same commission which is about to begin reviewing the proposal.

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday nominated Wellington Chen, executive director of the Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corp., to the 11-seat commission.

Chen, 62, said he has a lifelong love of the sea, and has taken a particular interest in the South Street Seaport Historic District.

“My father was a seaman who died at sea,” Chen told Downtown Express a few hours after his appointment was announced. “I believe in the [South Street] Seaport…. That’s the quintessential — our local [development corporation] points to the sea. This is the essence of the area.”

Chen attended a Save Our Seaport rally against the Howard Hughes Corp.’s project in Oct., 2013, and said he was pleased to learn there that another attendee, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, has a deep connection to the South Street Seaport Museum since her grandfather was involved in its creation.

“I was there not to protest, just to listen,” Chen added.

Similarly, Chen attended Community Board 1’s public hearing on the landmarks application for the proposal last month at St. Paul’s Chapel, but did not speak. That standing room only hearing drew hundreds, and it appeared there were more supporters than opponents of the project, so he got to hear both sides.

Chen said he had not decided if he should recuse himself from voting on the Seaport proposal, and he wanted to check with Landmarks Chairperson Meenakshi Srinivasan to see if she thought he should. The commission is expected to begin reviewing the application sometime in February, although the first hearing has not yet been scheduled.

It’s not clear if Chen has taken any public positions against the Hughes proposal, and any statements he may have made about the need to preserve the Seaport Historic District would essentially amount to the commission’s mandate for all of the city’s historic districts.

On Wednesday, he did not offer an opinion as to whether he thought the Seaport’s district should be extended to include the New Market Building, site of Hughes’ proposed 500-foot tower, which has been the center of much of the opposition.

The 1939 building was used a part of the Fulton Fish Market and is included in the non-binding national and state historic districts, but the Landmarks Commission has rejected previous attempts to include it in the city historic district, and appears to have no interest in revisiting the issue.

But C.B.1 is poised to pass a new Seaport resolution, which includes a renewed call to landmark the New Market....

[sparkling]

Community Board 1 meeting underway, focus on south street seaport development plans. The following are from Commercial Observer @commobserver twitter feed
https://twitter.com/commobserver


CB1 suggests lighting under the FDR that is less "Vegas-es que" #southstreetseaport

CB1 also didn't like the Fulton and Beekman Streets extension #southstreetseaport

Talk of extending the #southstreetseaport historic district to reflect federal historic district.

[sparkling]

Who is Howard Hughes?


February 02, 2015
By Mark Maurer

The most controversial aspect of the plan is the proposed mixed-use tower, located just east of Pier 17 on the edge of the river. The building, which calls for 150 market-rate condo units and a middle school at the base, would rise on the site of the currently uninhabitable New Market Building (part of the former Fulton Fish Market) next to the actual Seaport.

Local residents have criticized the tower’s height, location and design, arguing that it’s out of step with the low-rise historic neighborhood. (Howard Hughes has already agreed to chop the height to 42 stories from 52.)

The firm will also construct a new five-story building with 60 or 70 affordable rental units on Schermerhorn Row, a historic block that formerly housed 19th-century hotels. Weinreb said the number of affordable units, which comes to 30 percent of all the residential units the firm is proposing, is not only more than required to win approval, but is “the highest percentage that any developer has ever offered in affordable housing.”

The master plan also calls for the Tin Building, the other now-uninhabitable former outpost of the Fulton Fish Market directly north of the pier building, to be moved 30 feet to the east and turned into a state-of-the-art food market. In addition, the Link Building, a transitional structure that sits just west of the pier building, would be demolished to make way for a new façade for the Pier 17 building. The plan also calls for widening the esplanade at the pier, constructing a new marina and upgrading the Seaport Museum.

The company needs to secure approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission for key parts of the project before it can file for the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure — the final public approval process. The tower, which is currently envisioned at just under 500 feet, requires approval under ULURP to exceed 350 feet.

But it could be an uphill battle: Landmarks rejected GGP’s plan for a 42-story condo-hotel tower on the same site.Weinreb said his firm is open to transferring the development rights to a site within a few blocks away, but he has yet to find one.

But Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer — who with City Council Member Margaret Chin has led the opposition to the firm’s plans for the area surrounding the Seaport site — claims Howard Hughes and the other stakeholders “haven’t looked hard enough.”
When asked whether the tower would win city approval, Chin replied simply: “Not right now.”

Yet some are skeptical about that idea, because it would mean starting from scratch.Seth Pinsky, who was EDC president when the city approved the Pier 17 plan, said the redevelopment would vastly improve the South Street Seaport area.

“If you want a developer to preserve the Tin Building and make improvements to the public space, the developer needs to be able to pay for it,” said Pinsky, now executive vice president at RXR Realty. “It’s hard to imagine that a project without this level of density or some other significant new revenue source would allow a developer to cover those costs. I don’t see another way.”

For his part, Weinreb told TRD: “We’ve basically provided all the benefits we’re able to provide with this project.”

[sparkling]

Op-Ed: No Tower on the Seaport
Elected officials argue against the inclusion of a 494-foot residential tower in the historic, low-rise South Street Seaport district

MARGARET CHIN AND GALE BREWER
FEB 10, 2015

In his State of the City address on February 3, Mayor de Blasio made a very powerful statement regarding his plans to rezone several neighborhoods to increase density and housing options, while also protecting the spirit of those communities. It was a statement that must also be applied to an important land use discussion that has already begun in Lower Manhattan, and which will likely become more prominent in the coming months.

The mayor said: “We are not embarking on a mission to build towering skyscrapers where they don’t belong. We have a duty to protect and preserve the culture and character of our neighborhoods, and we will do so.”

That’s exactly the point we’ve made in our forceful opposition to the inappropriate 494-foot residential tower that the Howard Hughes Corporation has proposed to build in the heart of the South Street Seaport, one of the city’s most uniquely historic areas. While we’re committed to revitalizing the neighborhood, it’s true that we have a duty to protect the historic fabric of the Seaport—a low-rise area ever since it became active three centuries ago—from this kind of irresponsible development proposal.

That’s why we oppose the tower in its proposed site, and it’s also why we’ve proposed an alternative site—the former Pier 14, located at the foot of Maiden Lane. This site is just below the Seaport area and is a more contextually appropriate location for a 494-foot tower, since it’s already surrounded by high-rise buildings. Along with making this suggestion, we’ve stated many times our hope that the Howard Hughes Corporation and the New York City Economic Development Corporation will genuinely and actively work with us to identify other alternative sites for any such tower.

Aside from the tower, the Howard Hughes Corporation is proposing an array of community benefits for the Seaport area. Questions and concerns remain regarding some of those elements.

We still haven’t gotten a clear and complete answer about whether the South Street Seaport Museum will have all the support and physical space it requires, particularly on historic Schermerhorn Row (which was the nation’s first world trade center). It’s strange that the Howard Hughes Corporation proposal includes a public food market, since the developer already promised to create a new public food market as part of their Pier 17 proposal that was approved in 2013. It also seems odd that they’ve proposed to place a public school in a Category A flood zone.

As this process moves forward, we understand that our position—particularly when it comes to the proposed tower—may lead some people to seek to portray us as totally anti-development, or as stodgy old timers who can’t accept the reality of neighborhood change.

This would be false, as anyone familiar with our records as elected officials will understand. We’ve both played our part in major land use negotiations that reached successful conclusions. We know how the process works, and we want to reach a resolution here that will improve the Seaport while also protecting its historic, low-rise character.

The fact is that the concerns we’re raising here are legitimate and commonsense, and our opposition to a 494-foot tower in the heart of the Seaport is based on the very same principles that Mayor de Blasio articulated in his aforementioned remarks.

Now, we look forward to working with the Howard Hughes Corporation, NYC EDC and the Mayor’s office to continue identifying and exploring alternative sites for any proposed tower as part of this project. A great development proposal for the South Street Seaport must strike an appropriate balance between revitalization and preservation. We’re not there yet, but we believe that a serious discussion about our concerns for this area will lead to a stronger, more community-based project. We’re ready to continue that discussion.

Chin is the City Council member representing District 1 in Lower Manhattan; Brewer is the Manhattan borough president.

[chris08876]

Howard Hughes Corp. pays $31M for Seaport air rights

The Howard Hughes Corp. paid roughly $31 million to buy more than 300,000 square feet of air rights at the South Street Seaport, property records filed yesterday show.

The Dallas, Texas-based development firm, whose proposed 42-story residential tower on the East River is a source of controversy, paid $30.8 million to buy about 333,329 square feet of air rights from above the South Street Seaport Museum and a handful of properties on the block north of Front Street, property records filed yesterday show.

But while the tower is proposed to rise on a piece of property across the FDR Drive on the waterfront, records show the developer transferred the air rights to an inland block on the southern side of Fulton Street across from the museum. The Hughes Corp. could not be reached for comment. While air-rights transfers are generally restricted to adjacent properties, the city created a special transfer district over the seaport area intended to preserve its historic character. The district allows property owners to sell their unused rights to a bank, which can in turn sell them off to developers. The seaport area itself, which Hughes controls through a land-lease with the city, is in a state of disrepair, and the developer has submitted a $305 million proposal that includes infrastructure improvements and public-investment benefits, as well as the luxury tower.

The controversial project, which has already been scaled back, is being met with strong community opposition, notably from local Councilwoman Margaret Chin and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.

===============================
http://therealdeal.com/blog/2015/02/....Eu5nOTFr.dpuf

[NYguy]

http://commercialobserver.com/2015/0...david-weinreb/

The Sit-Down: Howard Hughes CEO David Weinreb


BY DANIELLE SCHLANGER
2/11/15

Commercial Observer: You attended New York University and began your real estate career here in the late 1970s. Did you grow up in New York City as well?

Mr. Weinreb: I did grow up in New York. I moved to New York in 1969 from Washington, D.C. when I was 5. I grew up in Chappaqua in Westchester County. I graduated from Horace Greeley High School in 1982 and from there I completed one semester at NYU.

What did you do after your one semester of college?

I went out into the world to pursue my business. I had actually bought my first condo [in the Flatiron District in New York] in my teens. I had an interesting career as a child entertainer, and my parents were great about saving my money. I starting getting interested in real estate as a teenager and then was ready to get out into the world and spread my wings and do my thing.

What did you do as a child actor?

I did television commercials and voiceovers.

What do you remember about the seaport from the 1970s?

It was just one of the great places to go and certainly one of the iconic destinations. In its early days after the Rouse Company completed it, it was a great place of energy.

Did you go there often?

I did, but remember the seaport was completed in 1984. By then, I was out in the world and was focused on my business and my real estate career. It used to be a fun place to go to have a drink and meet friends.

Why did you decide to relocate from New York to Texas in the early 1980s?

My dad is my best friend and so is my mom. They are great parents. They were moving from Chappaqua, and I went with them to help them move. I never intended to stay. The real estate industry in Texas was booming, and I decided to stay for a protracted period at that point.

Howard Hughes’ portfolio is fairly mall-heavy. How will you ensure that the South Street Seaport doesn’t turn into a suburban mall?

First of all, just for clarity, a lot of people think that [our portfolio is comprised primarily of malls]. We’re really not a mall company at all. We have a meaningful retail portfolio, but we have a much bigger presence in the master-planned community business. We own several of the biggest master-planned communities in the country. We’re basically creating cities within the cities that they’re in. For example, The Woodlands [in Houston, Texas] has 55,000 people a day that commute into the [area] to work. It has close to 120,000 people living there. But we also have millions of square feet of Class A office space. So it’s interesting that people think we’re a mall company, but we’re actually not. We don’t have any malls.

O.K., so how will you ensure that the South Street Seaport will retain its historic character?

We have taken a lot of energy and paid a lot of attention to what the community wants and to ensure that the authentic parts of the seaport not only remain intact, but actually anchor the experience [in the area]. We say that the South Street Seaport is the greatest, oldest-newest neighborhood in New York. We believe that the neighborhood can be preserved while also looking into the future. These two priorities can exist together.

What excited you about this project?

[The South Street Seaport] is one of the great, most important destinations in New York. The opportunity to transform a once-great neighborhood and revitalize it back into what it was in the past we thought was a very unique opportunity. It was one we thought we could do quite well because the company has for many years revitalized districts and assets.

Did you have any second thoughts about redeveloping this area after Superstorm Sandy, given how many of the neighbors got flooded?

[Superstorm] Sandy was a very unfortunate event. We were pleased that we could make a difference in the community and I think we have played an important role in bringing a vibrancy back. Despite the fact that we’re under construction at Pier 17, our See/Change program has been recognized by the local community and a much wider audience to be one of the great programs [bringing people to the area].

It also speaks to who we are as a company. The communities that we operate in are the most important thing to us. It’s one of the reason we are doing surveys, spending time with people in the communities and took part in the Seaport Working Group. We embraced that right away and quite frankly, I think we have a better project given the ideas that came out of the Working Group and incorporating those ideas into the design. It also meant understanding the things that were important to the community.

You’ve said that you are on the road 20 days out of the month. How does that impact your day-to-day life?

I’m traveling away from Dallas as many as 25 days a month now. For instance, for 10 or 12 or 14 of those days, I’m in New York. [When in New York, I am working on the seaport project] and on our other initiatives in New York and on the East Coast [in Columbia, Md. and Alexandria, Va]. But certainly, the seaport is a priority of ours.

One of the reasons I travel as much as I do is because our projects are not here, and as a leader, I think it’s important to be a part of the communities we build in. I’m in [other] markets two, three, four days a month depending on what’s happening. In New York, we recently signed a 10-year lease at 199 Water Street [for Howard Hughes’ East Coast headquarters], and it shows a significant commitment. We thought [signing the lease] was appropriate given our commitment to the Seaport District and our goal in playing a significant role in New York real estate in the coming years.

Why do you think there has been ongoing conflict with the community board?

There’s been misinformation out in the community. We have offered tens of million of dollars to the Seaport Museum, but they’re still working on their programming. We will provide a new and improved Seaport Museum, but because they do not have a definitive direction yet, people have said we’re not interested in preserving the Seaport Museum. And that has no truth to it whatsoever.

If you could tell dissatisfied community members one thing they need to know about this plan, what would it be?

I’d say a couple of things. We’re prepared to make a significant financial commitment to both the museum and the district. I hope that we’re seen as being loyal stewards of this district and our plan will continue to preserve and protect it. I would say that the building itself sits on an area that is just outside of that district, but is designed to be a good neighbor in the way that SHoP came up with the architectural elements.

What ultimately pushed you to scale back the size of the proposed tower from 52 stories to 42?

It was partly our work with the Seaport Working Group and having an appreciation for some of their concerns. We came back to a plan that incorporated a $300 million-plus benefit to the community [which Howard Hughes has made part of the overall seaport development plan], which is a very significant number. Yet, we were able to ultimately bring the tower down by adding other elements that will fill out enough of an economic engine to provide those benefits to the community.

[sparkling]

Proposed Condo Tower Could Stall Entire South Street Seaport Redevelopment Plan

FEBRUARY 17, 2015
DANA SCHULZ

Less than a week after it was revealed that the Howard Hughes Corporation paid $31 million for more than 300,000 square feet of air rights at the South Street Seaport, it looks like the entire $1.5 billion redevelopment project could be stalled. The overall plan would breathe new life into the downtown historic district by rehabilitating crumbling piers, preserving and finding new use for landmark buildings and constructing a 42-story waterfront condo tower at the foot of Beekman Street. And it’s this last point that has local officials, civic groups, preservationists and some community residents worried or downright angry.

The 494-foot-tall, SHoP Architects-designed tower has already been scaled back from its original 650 feet, but concerned parties still feel that the building would “obscure views of the Brooklyn Bridge and clash with the low-scaled, early-19th-century brick buildings that make up the 11-block seaport district, once the center of the city’s maritime industry,” according to the New York Times.

According to Wiley Norvell, a spokesman for Alicia Glen, the deputy mayor for economic development: “The administration has a strong interest in preserving the maritime heritage of the seaport, including the historic ships and the museum. We’re in ongoing discussions with the community and its elected officials, as well as the private developer, to see if we can achieve that critical objective and satisfy other priorities the neighborhood has raised.”

David R. Weinreb, chief executive of Howard Hughes, said that his company’s goals align with this and that the condo tower would provide the necessary revenue to include community incentives like building a middle school, renovating the historic Tin Building, and creating a new home for the South Street Seaport Museum. But some elected officials, including Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, say the developer needs to completely start over.

Howard Hughes has been meeting with concerned and/or interested parties for the past year, even forming their own group of supporters called Friends of the Seaport. According to a poll they conducted, 80 percent of local residents support the project. Whether or not that figure is accurate will surely come to light in the near future as the debate over the South Street Seaport and its controversial condo tower heats up.

[Zapatan]

A 494 foot building would obstruct views? Aren't they planning a 1000+ foot building right next to it? Doesn't that area already have tons 6-900 foot buildings anyway?

[chris08876]

The 494-foot-tall, SHoP Architects-designed tower has already been scaled back from its original 650 feet, but concerned parties still feel that the building would “obscure views of the Brooklyn Bridge and clash with the low-scaled, early-19th-century brick buildings that make up the 11-block seaport district, once the center of the city’s maritime industry,” according to the New York Times.

This right here is a load of bs. They don't care about the aesthetics of the area or how its ruining the historical appeal of the area, what they do care about are the residents nearby who will have their apartments or condos blocked from those views. In this case, the residents being the ones who are fighting and pushing for this project to fail. This is not about the historical aspect of the neighborhood or preservation, but a selfish, self centered motive for wanting this project to disappear altogether.

This is the same classical argument that goes on in many parts of Manhattan, particularly the Upper West Side. Its selfish is what it is.

[yankeesfan1000]

These people are unbelievable. They want the redeveloped pier and renovated Tin Buildling, but don't want to allow the developer the means to pay for all those community enhancements by buildings a small condo tower.

[NYguy]

To be fair, there are some in support of the tower, and they have been speaking out.

[RobEss]

I wonder if its too late to go back to the drawing board - I don't have any problems with a short condo rising by the seaport, but does it have to look so...cartoony? So obviously the work of a starchitect? Are they trying to make it mesh with that black and white abomination down the street?

Why not design a tower that compliments the historic district its hovering over? I'm so sick of these postmodern glass towers that look smeary and cheap a year after they're completed. I'm still wishing for some masonry.

[Roadcruiser1]

Originally Posted by RobEss

I wonder if its too late to go back to the drawing board - I don't have any problems with a short condo rising by the seaport, but does it have to look so...cartoony? So obviously the work of a starchitect? Are they trying to make it mesh with that black and white abomination down the street?

Why not design a tower that compliments the historic district its hovering over? I'm so sick of these postmodern glass towers that look smeary and cheap a year after they're completed. I'm still wishing for some masonry.

99 Church Street (30 Park Place) is your best friend buddy.

[StoOgE]

Won't someone please do something to maintain the character of the historic Abercrombie and Fitch shop?

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by StoOgE

Won't someone please do something to maintain the character of the historic Abercrombie and Fitch shop?

LOL, I don't get why people say this building will hurt the "historic character" of the area. It's a skyscraper on the opposite side of the elevated FDR. If the FDR didn't hurt the "historic character", then nothing will.

[chris08876]

Arts group to city: Sink the Seaport tower plan

While others have opposed the planned 494-foot tower because of its height, the Municipal Art Society faults it for interfering with efforts to flood-proof the area.

The Municipal Art Society has turned thumbs-down on plans for a controversial South Street Seaport apartment tower. In a letter to city officials this week, the MAS set itself apart from other detractors of the spire, whose objections have centered on its height.

Instead, the group faulted the location of Howard Hughes Corp.’s 494-foot tower, a now-crumbling pier east of FDR Drive, because it could potentially interfere with resiliency efforts designed to fortify lower Manhattan against flooding. Those efforts have already been partially funded by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“They are not only proposing to build in a flood zone, but in an area that the federal government has given us a major grant to build the Big U,” said Margaret Newman, executive director of MAS. She was referring to a massive planned horseshoe-shaped barrier hugging the lower tip of Manhattan.
Ms. Newman outlined her concerns, which included the desirability of building a large tower next to a low-rise historic district, in a Feb. 18 letter sent to Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen.

Howard Hughes has argued the tower is needed to be the economic driver behind the other elements of the $1.5 billion development, which includes a public promenade and marina, a retail and performance venue, and a number of restored historic buildings. In addition, a number of groups have come out in support of the tower, including the Downtown Alliance, the Old Seaport Alliance and the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, not to mention a number of local residents and a coalition called Friends of the Seaport.

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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...ort-tower-plan