NEW YORK | East River at North 11th Street (Parcel) | FT | FLOORS

[chris08876]

These two developers are poised to buy the last huge property in Williamsburg

Note: This was the site of the Citistorage Fire



The 11-acre site of seven-alarm fire has attracted some of the largest developers, and its owner says he's been entertaining offers of more than $250 million.

A partnership between the real estate investment groups Midtown Equities and East End Capital has secured an option to purchase the most closely watched development site in Brooklyn, according to sources.

The two firms have signed a contract to acquire CitiStorage, an 11-acre parcel on the Williamsburg waterfront where they can build retail and office space. It wasn't immediately clear what the two firms are negotiating to pay. Norman Brodsky, who owns the land and built the warehouses on it, told Crain's earlier this year that he had received offers for more than $250 million for the site.

Reached on Friday, Mr. Brodsky said he could not comment on the contract. Midtown Equities and East End Capital could not immediately be reached for comment.

Though CitiStorage has attracted some of the city's largest developers, many have backed away from its sizable hurdles. The site was initially promised by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration in 2005 as a key piece of Bushwick Inlet Park. But the city hasn't yet moved to acquire the site and spent far more than was originally budgeted for the park, acquiring neighboring parcels as property values have soared. However, after a fire at the end of January burned down one of the site's two large document-storage warehouses, neighborhood activists and Councilman Stephen Levin renewed their demands that the city fulfill its pledge to purchase the site and incorporate it into the park.

Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration is said to favor a plan in which a private developer covers the cost of acquiring the site and converts a portion of it into parkland in exchange for the right to build high-priced residential towers with affordable housing on the remainder. Advocates of the park, including Mr. Levin, have rejected such a compromise.

A buyer of the site can build around 600,000 square feet of commercial space, including manufacturing, retail and offices. Those uses have become increasingly lucrative in Williamsburg, as the neighborhood has transitioned into a thriving shopping district and office market. At least two builders are already planning speculative office buildings along Kent and Wythe avenues, near the CitiStorage site.

Midtown Equities has shown an expertise in developing mixed-use projects along the Brooklyn waterfront. The firm won the right to redevelop a 150-year-old derelict coffee warehouse in Dumbo into a state-of-the-art office and retail building, which it will call Empire Stores. The project is set to be finished by early 2016 and will be anchored by West Elm. Several well-known restaurants and stores have also committed to the project as well, including Shinola and Pizza East.

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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...ge-property-in

[chris08876]

City renegs on decade-old promise to buy 11-acre site for Williamsburg park

Property in Williamsburg has become so expensive not even the city can afford it.

That seems to be especitally true on the waterfront, home to an 11-acre site that the city had planned to buy and transform into a key part of Bushwick Inlet Park. The commissioner of the Department of Parks and Recreation said Tuesday that the city hasn't budgeted the money needed to acquire the CitiStorage property that stretches from North 10th to North 12th streets.

"There are currently no acquisition dollars to acquire the CitiStorage site," said Commissioner Mitchell Silver during a City Council hearing.

Mr. Silver said his agency is instead focused on completing the purchase of a neighboring site that for years has been owned and occupied by the Bayside Fuel Corp. So far, the city has spent more than $300 million to acquire that site and others, remediate its polluted portions and build the park, Mr. Silver said.

"What we're committed to doing is moving on the pieces we have right now," Mr. Silver said.

A decade ago, then-mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration promised to develop the Bushwick Inlet Park as part of a rezoning of Williamsburg and Greenpoint that opened the door to high-rise residential development along the northern Brooklyn waterfront.

To date, the city has only completed a roughly five-acre section between North 9th and North 10th streets.

CitiStorage, as the large parcel is known because a storage business by that name has warehouses there, represents the final section of unacquired land for the park and is considered key because it sits between the sites the city has purchased. Earlier this year, one of two large warehouses at the site burned down, stoking interest among developers who view the parcel as one of the most valuable in the city. The site could fetch several hundred million dollars.

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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...TATE/150529889