Sources are telling Crain's that Related Companies is in talks to provide a loan to the owner of Williamsburg's CitiStorage warehouse, which would position the company to convert the debt into future ownership of the contested waterfront property. What that all means is this: the CitiStorage warehouse, on the Williamsburg waterfront at North 10th Street, was promised by the Bloomberg administration as a future parcel of the budding Bushwick Inlet Park, which sits directly to its south. Earlier in the year, the Parks Department announced that they would not be acquiring the site, valued at about $250 million by owner Brodsky Organization Norman Brodsky, because there were "no acquisition dollars" available to the city agency. Related's negotiation most certainly squashes any lingering dreams of a 28-acre Bushwick Inlet Park, while also painting a picture of what might come to the site. According to Crain's, Related, with partners Midtown Equities and East End Capital, could build about 600,000 square feet of office and retail space at the site under the area's current zoning.
Some developers have proposed a compromise for the site that would fulfill the city's earlier promise to convert the lot to parkland while also benefiting developers. Under that compromise, developers would purchase the site and convert some of it to parkland in exchange for a rezoning that would allow residential development with the possibility of affordable housing. While sources say that the compromise has won over the De Blasio administration, City Councilman Stephen Levin, who represents the area, has remained adamantly against the compromise, effectively squashing it in place.
As of now, the facilities burnt-out shell sits in place, waiting for its next opportunity.
· ">Related in talks for Williamsburg CitiStorage site: sources [Crain's]
· Burnt-Out Warehouse on 'Burg Waterfront Ready to Sell [Curbed]
· After a Fire, Campaigning Fir a Long-Awaited Greenpoint Park [Curbed]
· All CitiStorage coverage [Curbed]
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