First Phase of Quadriad Plan for Williamsburg Approved by ULURP Committee
Last night in a hold over meeting of Brooklyn's Community Board 1, the ULURP Committee approved overriding the new rezoning of Williamsburg to make way for a 24 story tower to be built by Quadriad. The proposal will next be voted on by the full community board on July 12.
The tower and surrounding town houses are part of a multi-lot plan by Quadriad, which onNYTurf profiled here last year. The committee approval was a major hurtle for Quadriad who would like to put the 24 story building and as of right luxury development on the rest of the site at North 3rd and Barry to 4th and Bedford.
The ULURP committee approval was reached by a 10 to 9 vote, under what seems to be extenuating circumstances. Reportedly when the vote was first cast the count was 9 - 9 and and the committee chair ruled the resolution was defeated. Allegedly a few minutes later another committee member, arriving late, asked to vote on the plan, and was allowed to do so and cast the swing vote.
Quadriad's request has been met with strong opposition in Williamsburg because it requires overruling the brand new rezoning that was done a little more than a year ago that was intended to keep the development site area low rise. Quadriad has tried to incentivize the community with both carrot and stick. Under current 421-a tax abatement provisions Quadriad can get a 15 year tax abatement on units built on the site and not have to included any affordable units and thus they have suggested they would do so if they do not get approval for a zoning override. Those 421-a rules don't change until January. To balance this threat of building pure luxury Quandriad had offered a variety of "sweeteners" like affordable units, community spaces, fire houses, schools in exchange for towers. Last nights deal scrapped all those incentives except some "affordable units" and also seemed to scrap another tower proposed for that lot. Groundlevel and sublevel retail would be included. And the project would also include 108 new parking spaces.
Some details of Quadriad's "affordable" deal are vague. Quadriad says 15 1Bedrooms, 8 2BRs, and 2 town houses will be affordable and they have defined "affordable" in two levels: a house hold income of $84,000 and a house hold income of $126,000. Quadriad has also mentioned some affordable ownership units would be included, but numbers have not be specified, particularly how buyers would be prevented from flipping the units at market rate right after acquisition. All and all the project would bring 241 more units to the heart of Williamsburg.
Quadriad is also interested in building on several other adjacent blocks (see the map) and apparently is interested in doing similar projects on 3 other sites in the neighborhood where towers are currently not allowed. Reportedly Quadriad has also partnered with Thor who has plans for sweeping developments in Coney Island.
The tower and surrounding town houses are part of a multi-lot plan by Quadriad, which onNYTurf profiled here last year. The committee approval was a major hurtle for Quadriad who would like to put the 24 story building and as of right luxury development on the rest of the site at North 3rd and Barry to 4th and Bedford.
The ULURP committee approval was reached by a 10 to 9 vote, under what seems to be extenuating circumstances. Reportedly when the vote was first cast the count was 9 - 9 and and the committee chair ruled the resolution was defeated. Allegedly a few minutes later another committee member, arriving late, asked to vote on the plan, and was allowed to do so and cast the swing vote.
Quadriad's request has been met with strong opposition in Williamsburg because it requires overruling the brand new rezoning that was done a little more than a year ago that was intended to keep the development site area low rise. Quadriad has tried to incentivize the community with both carrot and stick. Under current 421-a tax abatement provisions Quadriad can get a 15 year tax abatement on units built on the site and not have to included any affordable units and thus they have suggested they would do so if they do not get approval for a zoning override. Those 421-a rules don't change until January. To balance this threat of building pure luxury Quandriad had offered a variety of "sweeteners" like affordable units, community spaces, fire houses, schools in exchange for towers. Last nights deal scrapped all those incentives except some "affordable units" and also seemed to scrap another tower proposed for that lot. Groundlevel and sublevel retail would be included. And the project would also include 108 new parking spaces.
Some details of Quadriad's "affordable" deal are vague. Quadriad says 15 1Bedrooms, 8 2BRs, and 2 town houses will be affordable and they have defined "affordable" in two levels: a house hold income of $84,000 and a house hold income of $126,000. Quadriad has also mentioned some affordable ownership units would be included, but numbers have not be specified, particularly how buyers would be prevented from flipping the units at market rate right after acquisition. All and all the project would bring 241 more units to the heart of Williamsburg.
Quadriad is also interested in building on several other adjacent blocks (see the map) and apparently is interested in doing similar projects on 3 other sites in the neighborhood where towers are currently not allowed. Reportedly Quadriad has also partnered with Thor who has plans for sweeping developments in Coney Island.
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