[NYguy]

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...TATE/305059973

Back from the drawing board
Dormant Newtown Creek development awakens in a big way.

By Matt Chaban
May 5, 2013

A slumbering giant of a project is about to reawaken on the banks of Newtown Creek in north Brooklyn. Park Tower Group is set to unveil its latest plans for a huge 22-acre development at the northern tip of Greenpoint at a public meeting Monday.

The plan calls for 5,500 apartments spread among as many as two dozen buildings, including 10 luxury towers of 30 to 40 stories. Planning for the development began more than a decade ago and pre-dates the contentious Williamsburg-Greenpoint rezoning that spawned a building boom and thousands of new apartments. After the 2005 rezoning, Park Tower spent a number of years honing its plan along more than a half-mile of waterfront. But just as the developer was preparing to build, the recession hit. "It's been challenging for anything to occur, but now the market is very strong," said Park Tower Vice President Al Bradshaw.

The developer hopes to break ground on the first tower sometime in December or January. Beginning in June, the plan will have to go through the six-month public- review process. Financing has yet to be secured, although Mr. Bradshaw said he is "in advanced discussions with a number of lenders."

The public review has little to do with the towers, which could be built as of right, thanks to the rezoning, and has more to do with modifications to the original plan. Park Tower will incorporate a city-owned parcel and build as many as 431 affordable-housing units the Bloomberg administration promised to add as part of the rezoning. This is in addition to nearly 1,000 units of affordable housing already planned for the site.

The site must also be re-rezoned because Park Tower has agreed to provide space for a school, which the city would build. The open space also is being reconfigured to better deal with potential storm surges, including raising the public promenade. "This will not only protect our property, but those of our neighbors behind us," Mr. Bradshaw said. Park Tower is also donating $2.5 million to the city to expand the adjacent Newtown Barge Park.

The developer has changed the look of the project. Earlier renderings showed sleek glass towers, while the new designs envision red-brick façades liberally punctuated with windows reminiscent of the area's old warehouses. Steel awnings hang above the entrances. "It's a nod to the area's industrial history," architect Gary Handel said.

Park Tower also hopes that a bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava to connect Brooklyn and Queens across the Newtown Creek will be included at a later point. The entire project is expected to take between eight and 12 years to complete.

Brooklyn is really getting some fantastic developments.