The announcement that Park Tower Group would unveil their 10-tower Greenpoint Landing megaproject at a meeting last night overshadowed the fact that they weren't the only developer with plans for the North Brooklyn waterfront. Representatives for another 30-40 story project at 77 Commercial Street were also in attendance. Said project is being brought to Greenpoint by a couple of familiar names?David Bistricer and Joseph Chetrit?and it will bring with it the long-awaited 3-acre Box Street Park. Crain's reports that the developers bought 77 Commercial last year for $25 million, and now they are buying the development rights for a MTA bus parking lot at 65 Commercial Street. Bistricer and Chetrit will pay around $8 million for the air rights, which will allow them to double the size of their bland building to 475,000-square-feet. The city will use the $8M to pay for construction of the new park.
The plan to relocate the parking lot has been in the works since the 2005 rezoning, and after years of delays (bad economy, crappy real estate market, no new location for the buses, blah blah blah), the MTA finally issued an RFP for the site last summer. Bistricer and Chetrit's plan for a 30 to 40 story Cetra/Ruddy-designed tower won. At the insistance of the city, 200 of the roughly 700 units will be affordable.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, the community hates these plans (and the Greenpoint Landing plans). Greenpointers attended the meeting last night, and they have a recap of the residents' chief complaints, mainly lack of quality transportation and the growing economic divide between the waterfront and the rest of the neighborhood.
· New Park to blossom on Greenpoint Waterfront [Crain's]
· Community Meeting Notes: Greenpoint Landing & 77 Commercial Street [Greenpointers]
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