When Peebles Corporation and Elad Group partnered to buy 346 Broadway, the former New York Criminal Courts building at the corner of Leonard Street, the community was under the impression that the conversion of the 14-story landmarked building into luxury condos would benefit them in at least one way. Peebles promised that 15,700-square-feet of space in the building would be devoted as a visual and community arts public space, but at last night's Community Board 1 meeting a slightly different plan for the space was unveiled, Tribeca Trib reports. While the space will still be assumed by Downtown Community Television, a media arts center that offers cheap production classes to teenagers and adults, the group is not getting as good of a deal as they thought; last night, Peebles clarified that the city has requested the developers make the landmarked building's grand lobby into publicly accessible space rather than into a private townhouse. As such, some of the area DCTV will occupy has shifted to a below-grade space. Now, the group is being forced into a space that adds up to a little less than 10,000 rentable square feet.
The long and short, the community and DCTV feel like they're getting shafted by Peebles and Elad, who are really just answering to the city's demands. It seems pointing fingers is a futile exercise here. This is the just beginning of a likely long fight for Peebles Corporation and Elad. The developers have yet to seek approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission for their massive renovation. The developers will appear with architect Beyer Blinder Belle in front of the commission on November 18.
· Broken Promises Claimed in Condo Conversion of Landmark Building [TT]
· All 346 Broadway coverage [Curbed]
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