[CitiStorage after the fire. Photo via Several seconds/Curbed Photo Pool]
Ever since a massive, seven-alarm fire brought down the CitiStorage warehouse on the Williamsburg waterfront earlier this year, there has been lots of speculation over what might happen to the coveted 11-acre property. Now, the future of the site is a bit more clear, and it's probably going to make a lot of people very unhappy.
Crain's is reporting that the investment firms Midtown Equities and East End Capital have entered a partnership to buy the CitiStorage site, with retail and office space likely to follow. Although no price has been made public yet, Norman Brodsky—the owner of the parcel —previously told Crain's that he had been entertaining offers of $250 million and up.
The parcel, however, comes with its fair share of baggage. In 2005, the city rezoned the land and pledged to develop it into Bushwick Inlet Park. As property values in the area soared, the plan stalled and became less and less feasible with each passing year, until only one small section of the park was completed. Groups like the Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park and other neighborhood activists renewed their calls for the city to make good on its promise in the wake of January's blaze.
Mayor de Blasio—who supported the creation of the park when he was in the City Council—now seems to be leaning towards a plan in which developers would buy the site and build luxury residential towers, in exchange for creating some parkland and affordable housing. Councilman and park advocate Stephen Levin has come out strongly against this deal.
· These two developers are poised to buy the last huge property in Williamsburg [Crain's]
· All CitiStorage coverage
· All Bushwick Inlet Park coverage [Curbed]
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