STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The community continued its push last week against a high-rise development project that would change the face of Staten Island’s North Shore -- but the project’s supporters are also making their voices heard.
Borough President James Oddo led the opposition’s testimony at a City Planning Commission (CPC) public hearing on Wednesday against the River North project planned for St. George.
“I am intimately familiar with the story of residential development on Staten Island, and it’s a tragic one,” Oddo said. “It’s one that has no planning, it’s one that has no vision, and it’s one that certainly did not have infrastructure.”
The project would bring three high-rise, mixed-use buildings as tall as 26 stories and 750 new apartments to the currently vacant lot near the intersection of Hamilton Avenue and Stuyvesant Place. Developers plan to include 225 affordable apartments, and the ground-floor will have retail opportunities.
These renderings show what the proposed River North project would look like when complete. (Rendering by FXCollaborative)
Zachary Kadden, the director of development at Madison Realty Capital, said the project his company has planned would beautify a longstanding eyesore in St. George, bring affordable housing for local residents, and provide new economic opportunities for the community.
“We are continuing to engage with local leaders and residents to ensure this project serves and lifts up the St. George community,” he said. “As we saw at the CPC hearing, the majority of public speakers were in support of the project due to its resources, amenities, community development opportunities and more, and we are confident that it will become a true highlight of the North Shore.”
Five people testified in support of the project, because, like Kadden, they say it’ll provide needed housing and economic opportunities. Two people joined Oddo in opposition, and Community Board 1 also opposes the development.
“They [Madison Capital Realty] shot for the moon. They could have did an ‘as-of-right project,’ and built a six-story building there, and we wouldn’t have said a word. But they want three zoning text amendments to go to 26 stories, which is absurd,” Community Board 1 Chairman Nicholas Siclari told the Advance/SILive.com in June.
These renderings show what the proposed River North project would look like when complete. (Rendering by FXCollaborative)
Niles French, the vice president of projects with the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation, said the project would help boost the economy of St. George by bringing more residents to the neighborhood.
“Whether it’s the wheel, the ballpark, new retail or other efforts, it should be clear that one of the missing components is lack of local residents living in the area,” he said. “Every neighborhood in the city that has come back with a new, modern, vibrant local economy has started with new housing.”
Oddo, who finishes his time in office at the end of the year, said what the project doesn’t bring is improvements to the Island’s infrastructure needed to support the new population.
Long an opponent of development that doesn’t consider the shortfalls that exist on the Island, Oddo described the proposed River North project as “precedent setting,” because of its height and non-compliance with existing land use rules in the area.
To move forward, the project would need three land use actions on the part of the CPC. The area where the three buildings would be located needs to be up-zoned to allow the size of the structure, part of an adjacent lot that divides the location would need to be made part of the site, and the project would require a special permit for its construction.
That adjacent lot is home to the Castleton Park Apartments, currently two of the tallest structures on Staten Island. The part of the lot that would need to be remapped would not affect the existing buildings.
This map shows where what the proposed River North project would be built. (Courtesy of Madison Realty Capital)
Proponents of the project argue that the size of the development would help Staten Island, particularly the North Shore, reach a population “critical mass” that would force the city to bring long-sought services and infrastructure to the area.
“It will spur economic development, expand services, and provide more amenities for the residents of St. George,” Dan Kaplan, an architect with FXCollaborative who was part of the team that presented the project to the CPC.
Oddo isn’t buying it. He called “critical mass” the “big lie of Staten Island,” noting previous developments that promised improvements to infrastructure that either never delivered or came decades too late.
“It was uttered in the 60s, in the 70s, in the 80s, in the 90s as the glass filled and then eventually spilled over,” he said. “This big lie of ‘we need critical mass’ — it is a novel we’ve read. It has a really awful ending.”
"story" - Google News
July 20, 2021 at 04:35PM
https://ift.tt/3rooEMX
Would new 26-story building be a North Shore ‘highlight’ or part of S.I.’s ‘tragic’ development history? - SILive.com
"story" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2YrOfIK
https://ift.tt/2xwebYA
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Would new 26-story building be a North Shore ‘highlight’ or part of S.I.’s ‘tragic’ development history? - SILive.com"
Post a Comment