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1.7 million square feet!


Council subcommittee approves $100 million Pier 40 air-rights deal

A deal to transfer $100 million of air rights—which would fund Pier 40 repairs and green-light a large development across the street—was granted by a key New York City Council subcommittee Monday morning.

The approval from the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises likely means the full council will follow suit this month.

Attached to the deal is a rezoning of the development site at 550 Washington St., across West Street from the pier, that will permit owners Westbrook Partners and Atlas Capital to build hundreds of thousands of square feet of residential space on the commercially zoned property.

"Pier 40 is a treasured community resource and an important revenue generator for Hudson River Park," Madelyn Wils, the president and CEO of Hudson River Park Trust, which operates the pier, said in a statement. "Today's votes move us one step closer to ensuring that the urgently needed repairs to the pier's piles will be made, and the pier will stay open."

Westbrook Partners and Atlas Capital are planning to buy 200,000 square feet of air rights over Pier 40 to increase the size of the mixed-use development they envision at 550 Washington St. to about 1.7 million square feet. The pair's willingness to buy the air rights, providing funds for the deteriorating pier with athletic fields that have become a treasured amenity for the surrounding neighborhood, has acted as an incentive for the city to rezone the Washington Street site for residential use. The developers also plan to include affordable units among the hundreds of apartments they will build.

In past weeks, several sticking points emerged between Hudson River Park Trust, the developers and local Councilman Corey Johnson, who sits on the subcommittee and who held de facto veto power over the transfer.

To strike a deal, Hudson River Park Trust agreed to a request from the councilman to refrain from transferring any more of the remaining $140 million of development rights over Pier 40. Instead, Wils said, the trust will try to use the pier's remaining air rights to build on the pier itself, potentially constructing office space to rent out.

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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...ir-rights-deal