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UPDATE: On Thursday, New York State Supreme Court judge Joan Lobis ruled to continue blocking part of the planned redevelopment along Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District, DNAinfo reported.
While developers William Gottlieb Real Estate and Aurora Capital Partners can continue to pursue work on 52-58 Gansevoort, where Keith McNally’s Pastis is supposed to reopen, work on some of the other buildings along the stretch between Ninth Avenue and Washington Street will have to be halted.
West Village residents had particularly taken opposition to the taller buildings being developed closer to Washington Street, and the judge was mostly in agreement. She asked that the developers not make any changes to the exterior at 60-68 Gansevoort Street, and make no changes whatsoever at 70-74 Gansevoort Street.
On March 8, the warring sides will return to court and hash out details on how much bond the group of local residents will have to put should they lose the case against the developers.
The contentious redevelopment of a block-long stretch of Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District has hit a snag. A judge has granted a temporary restraining order against the project’s developers, with work on the project halted until a court hearing takes place later this afternoon.
In October, a preservation group called Save Gansevoort (led, according to the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, by a group of longtime West Village activists) sued both the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the developers behind the project, William Gottlieb Real Estate and Aurora Capital Partners.
In the suit, the group challenged what they allege is the city and the LPC’s pro-development stance, and argued that the development itself was too big. At the time, the LPC hit back, claiming that it’s “the strongest force and voice for preservation” in the city. The group approved the developers’ plans for changes to the block in June.
The restraining order, which was issued last Friday, puts a temporary hold on the project. According to DNAInfo, which first reported the news, today’s hearing (which takes place at 2:30 p.m. at the New York State Supreme Court building in Lower Manhattan) gives the warring sides an opportunity to present their arguments. The judge overseeing the case, Joan Lobis, will decide whether or not to continue the restraining order. (Fun fact: Lobis is also the judge who threw out the lawsuit against Pier 55 in April, so speculate away as to how she might approach this particular issue.)
The Gansevoort redevelopment plans that were approved by the LPC would allow for taller structures to the block—provoking preservationists’ ire—and would bring offices and even more high-end retail to the Meatpacking District.