Wydra גרעטש נאך ארטיסטן לוקסוסאין וויל
דער בעה"ב פין דעם Greenberg Traurig LLP איז Wydra Edward Partner
Market-Rate Housing Key Issue for Williamsburg/Greenpoint
GREENPOINT — Community Board 1 (CB 1) and its residents continued to advocate for the construction of more affordable housing in Greenpoint and Williamsburg on Tuesday night by expressing their opinions on two variance applications.
While the city's Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) will ultimately approve or deny these applications, the recommendations of community boards are required beforehand. By the end of the meeting, the board had raised concerns about the latest variance application it heard, and formally recommended the approval of a separate application.
In the first housing issue brought before CB 1 that night, Greenberg Traurig LLP introduced plans to convert three vacant buildings at 191-205 Berry St. (AKA 157 North 3rd St., 248-252 Bedford Ave.) into 82 market-rate apartments.
An attorney for Greenberg Traurig, Meloney L. McMurray, said that the quality of the apartments would be ''extremely high'' and would require ''high-end construction.'' As a result, she said, the project requires exclusively market-rate housing so its developer can make a significant profit.
Questioned about modifying the plans to include affordable housing, McMurray replied that cutting corners, such as eliminating the underground parking component, still wouldn't allow for anything below market rate.
Alison Cordero, deputy director for community preservation at the St. Nicholas Neighborhood Corporation and a member of the community group Mobilization Against Displacement, said the ''community's priority is affordable housing.'' Unless changes are made, she said, her groups will oppose the project.
Martin S. Needleman, legal counsel to the group Mobilization Against Displacement, said he was concerned that proposals of this type could drive up the area's cost of living, thereby pricing neighbors out over time. He said he only supports housing proposals that include at least 40 percent affordable housing.
The chair of CB 1's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) Committee, Michael Kriegh, said he doubts that the property owner tried to incorporate less expensive apartments. He mentioned that another application before CB 1 is smaller in scope, but includes affordable housing.
Kriegh was referring to an application CB 1 supported later that night — a plan to construct a 17-unit condominium building at the manufacturing-zoned 90 Havemeyer St.
Of the 17 apartments, two would be ''guaranteed at cost offerings, and a third would be provided at cost if offsetting funding is identified and obtained,'' the ULURP Committee's report stated.
''This would yield 12 percent to 17 percent affordable units in the building,'' the report continued. ''In general, the committee found the offering of affordable housing demonstrated a commitment to the needs of the community.''
הטקסט שלך כאן
תוקן על ידי - ekstein - 13/08/2004 22:23:55
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