NEW YORK | 265 South Street | 798 FT & 748 FT | 73 & 67 FLOORS

[NYguy]

https://archinect.com/news/article/1...egal-challenge

[chris08876]

Two Bridges developers beat two more lawsuits blocking projects

After a series of setbacks, developers planning four towers in Two Bridges have survived two more legal challenges.

A state appeals court on Tuesday unanimously overturned two decisions, clearing the way for the projects to move forward. The panel of judges found that the lower court judge should have deferred to the Department of City Planning’s “reasonable interpretation” that the city’s zoning resolution didn’t require further justification for its approval of the towers.

Neighborhood groups had argued that the developers’ proposed modification to the Two Bridges large-scale development plan, which was approved in 1972, required further examination by the city. Opponents argue that the projects require City Council approval.

Paula Segal, an attorney who represents Tenants United Fighting for the Lower East Side and other neighborhood groups in one lawsuit, said her clients are considering their legal options.

Kenneth Kimerling, who represents Lower East Side Organized Neighbors and other organizations that brought a second lawsuit, did not immediately return a request seeking comment.

Because the Appellate Division’s decision was unanimous, the groups would need to receive court approval to appeal to the state’s highest court.

The three projects — JDS Development’s 247 Cherry Street, L+M Development and CIM Group’s 260 South Street and Starrett Corporation’s 259 Clinton Street — would have 2,775 rental units across four towers at three addresses. A quarter of those units would be set aside as affordable.

The developers are also upgrading a local subway station and financing repairs at a nearby public housing complex. A spokesperson for developers praised Tuesday’s decisions.

“Private investments in affordable housing and essential community infrastructure are critical as the city emerges from the pandemic, and these projects will deliver a range of meaningful and lasting benefits for the Two Bridges neighborhood,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The Appellate Division’s decisions cap a tumultuous two years for the projects. In June 2019, Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron halted the developments, agreeing with the New York City Council and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer that the projects must go through the city’s land use review process. In February 2020, Engoron similarly ruled in favor of community groups in two other lawsuits challenging the projects.

But the Appellate Division reversed Engoron’s first decision in August 2020, casting doubt on the prospects of the other two lawsuits.

Those complaints argued that City Planning was required to report certain findings before approving the projects, based on a provision in the zoning resolution. In Tuesday’s decisions, the panel found that the developers “persuasively argue” that the provision doesn’t apply to their projects.

The Two Bridges lawsuits were among several recent cases that concerned the real estate industry.

In late 2019 a state Supreme Court judge annulled the city’s rezoning of Inwood. That decision was ultimately overturned. Developers of another project, 200 Amsterdam, are still awaiting the results of its appeal after a lower court ruled that it must remove 20 floors to comply with zoning rules.

=====================
https://therealdeal.com/2021/02/16/t...king-projects/

[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/2021/05/27/t...-final-appeal/

Two Bridges project opponents lose final appeal
State’s highest court declines to hear bid to stop four towers


May. 27, 2021
By Keith Larsen

The lengthy legal battle to prevent the construction of four massive towers in Two Bridges has come to an end.

The New York Court of Appeals declined to hear cases from two community groups to stop new development projects planned for the Lower Manhattan neighborhood.

A spokesperson for the developers said, “We appreciate the court’s review and look forward to delivering on those benefits.”

The community groups who brought the lawsuits claim they will keep fighting even though the court’s decision essentially ended any chance of stopping the projects in a courtroom.

“There’s not a single shovel in the ground,” the Lower East Side Organized Neighbors said in a statement. “It’s important for residents and supporters of our No Towers, No Compromise campaign to know that this is still not a done deal, and our fight against displacement is far from over.”

Trever Holland of Tenants United Fighting for the Lower East Side said, “Although we are incredibly disappointed by the court’s rejection of our request that they review the Appellate Division decision, we will continue to pursue all options to stop these towers.”

[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/2021/09/09/c...ges-tower/amp/

CIM Group, L+M Development file plans for 1.3M sf Two Bridges tower

BY JOE LOVINGER | RESEARCH BY ORION JONES
SEP 9, 2021

A two-tower, 73-story apartment project in lower Manhattan’s Two Bridges neighborhood is finally moving ahead after years of opposition from local residents and politicians.

CIM Group, which is developing the site with L+M Development, filed plans on Wednesday for 261 South Street, city records show. It will join two skyscrapers, planned by JDS Development and Starrett Corporation, on the edge of the East River.

The South Street project will feature 1,803 residential units across towers connected at the base by a 14,500-square-foot community facility. It will total 1.3 million square feet, according to the plans. Gary Handel of Handel Architects is the architect of record.

[Crawford]

Nice. So this neighborhood will have three large 700 ft.+ residential towers simultaneously u/c.

And the nearby supertall residential should break ground shortly.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Nice. So this neighborhood will have three large 700 ft.+ residential towers simultaneously u/c.

And the nearby supertall residential should break ground shortly.

Like a mini-Hudson Yards.

[Raysiri]

Originally Posted by NYguy

Like a mini-Hudson Yards.

Why not call it “the children of the Hudson Yards”?

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by Raysiri

Why not call it “the children of the Hudson Yards”?

I think the baby daddy is one of the 42nd street towers. The two towered complex looks a lot like some of those residentials on 42nd Street. So some of these children towers aren't from Hudson Yard tower parents.

And it makes sense, because Hudson Yard towers have the height, the 42nd street towers tend to be shorter, so the child towers are somewhat in between both the mother and father towers height. At least they got the tall genes.

30 Hudson definitely was not the father. 30 Hudson is a endomorph, very big bones and wide.

[citybooster]

Hudson Yards has its good and bad points, But it's better in that it is going to be more organically part of the community as generally residential development(though the Hudson Yards II is primarily going to be residential, and it may have a great new neighborhood vibe itself when it gets done) . Going to have a nice mix of incomes with about 30% affordables. Anything residential that isn't just for the super rich that's so dense is something worth celebrating, and these several towers will really fill up and broaden to the East the sweeping panorama of Lower Manhattan skyline brilliantly.

[chris08876]

Two Bridges Associates Files Permits For 71-Story Skyscraper At 265 South Street On The Lower East Side

Permits have been filed for a 71-story mixed-use skyscraper with affordable Housing at 265 South Street in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Located adjacent to Rutgers Park between Jefferson Street and Frank T. Modica Way, the lot was previously addressed as 260 South Street. Four blocks north of the site is the East Broadway subway station, serviced by the F train. Two Bridges Associates L.P., a partnership between L+M Development Partners and the CIM Group, is listed as the owner behind the applications.

Pre-filed applications in 2016 called for a 66-story, 1,400-unit residential tower with approximately 350 affordable units. In 2020, the New York Appellate Court ruled in favor of a group of developers which included Two Bridges Associates that would allow them to move forward on four developments along the Two Bridges waterfront, including a two-tower development rising 798 feet at 260 South Street.

Latest details specify a 761-foot-tall development yielding 14,526 square feet for community facility space. The building will have 1,803 residences, however it is unclear how many units will be designated as affordable housing. The concrete-based structure will also have a cellar, a 30-foot-long rear yard, and 103 enclosed parking spaces.

Handel Architects is listed as the architect of record.

Demolition permits have not been filed. An estimated completion date has not been announced.

=================
NYY

[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/2021/11/19/j...-bridges-site/

Joe Chetrit buying Two Bridges site
Developer acquiring 1,300-unit project





Nov. 19, 2021
By Rich Bockmann

Joe Chetrit is heading to Two Bridges.

The developer is buying the development site owned by CIM Group and L+M Development Partners in the rapidly transforming corner of the Lower East Side, sources familiar with the sale told The Real Deal.

The Chetrit Group is in contract to pay around $100 million for the site at 265 South Street, where CIM and L+M filed plans in September for a two-towered building with more than 1,300 units.

Chetrit had been in talks earlier to acquire the site with Michael Stern’s JDS Partners, who is developing a building in the neighborhood at 247 Cherry Street. But those negotiations fell apart and Chetrit went ahead alone.

Chetrit did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Stern declined to comment, as did a representative for the CIM and L+M joint venture.

…..Stern and Chetrit previously teamed up in Brooklyn to develop the 9 DeKalb Avenue supertall tower in Downtown Brooklyn. Stern bought Chetrit out of the project in 2018.

In Florida, the pair partnered to build a megaproject on the Miami River. Stern sold his stake in the project to Chetrit in 2019.

[chris08876]

Two Bridges Supertall Moves Closer to Happening in Lands End II Parking Lot

The next super-tall on the Lower East Side waterfront is imminent.

Residents of the Lands End II residential complex alert us to the digging of test pits in the rear parking lot, site of the future seventy-story development conceived by Two Bridges Associates, the partnership between L+M and CIM.

The developers last October filed paperwork with the city for its skyscraper, officially 265 South Street. Neighbors hear word from workers that digging for the project is set to begin in just a couple short weeks. Despite pending status of the plans.

(L+M sold Lands End II in November 2020 for $435 million, but held onto the parking lot parcel.)

Both super-tall components of the skyscraper will collectively include roughly 1,350 apartments with more than 300 earmarked as affordable; retail spaces are also anticipated on the Cherry Street front, including the possibility of a grocery or pharmacy.

As previously reported, L+M/CIM partnered with Handel Architects for the two-towered project that is to rise 761 feet and add 1.1 million square-feet of floor area. Plans were initially filed with Department of Buildings in 2016; five years later, there are some additions. Namely, a 14,500 square-foot community facility, thirty-foot-long rear yard, and enclosed parking for 103 vehicles.

=====================
https://boweryboogie.com/2022/02/two...uB6MctsoXLqZPY

[NewYorkCity76]

https://boweryboogie.com/2022/02/two...i-parking-lot/

[Hudson11]

Chetrit Buys LES Site With $70M Madison Realty Capital Loan

https://commercialobserver.com/2022/...-capital-loan/

Madison Realty Capital provided the loan on 260 South Street, which The Chetrit Group just acquired from previous owners L+M Development Partners and CIM Group for $78 million. The deal closed Friday.

[NYguy]

https://boweryboogie.com/2022/04/dep...-street/?amp=1

Department of Buildings Issues Foundation Permits for 70-Story Tower on South Street

The controversial 70-story tower slated for the Lower East Side waterfront received a major boost this week.

Department of Buildings yesterday issued permits for the gargantuan foundation at 265 South Street, thus allowing owner-developer Chetrit Group to take advantage of the 421a tax exemption which is set to expire June 15.

The applications for the Support of Excavation and the Foundation were together approved by the city agency last week. We’re told that plan examiners determined all required items associated with the applications had been properly submitted, and that plans for the rear parking lot of Lands End II complied with applicable code and zoning regulations.

[NYguy]

https://boweryboogie.com/2022/04/exc...-towers/?amp=1

Excavation Work Prepped at Two Bridges Development Site for New Towers

No sooner were excavation permits issued than worksite preparations began on a controversial South Street development along the Lower East Side waterfront.

Indeed, Department of Buildings on Tuesday issued official approval to the Chetrit Group to begin foundation activities for its dual 70-story tower at 265 South. By yesterday evening, a perimeter fence was in place and a pile driver parked within.

[chris08876]

Foes fight Two Bridges developer Joe Chetrit, demand Buildings Department deny work permits

Chinatown and Lower East Side organizations rallied together outside the Department of Buildings’ offices near City Hall on Mon., April 11, calling on the agency to “check [Joseph] Chetrit,” the real estate developer who plans to build two “megatowers” along the East River.

Activists and Chinatown residents, organized by CAAAV Organizing Chinatown, Good Old Lower East Side (G.O.L.E.S.), and Tenants United Fighting for the Lower East Side (TUFF-LES), among other groups, are concerned that the development of the two towers — at 64 and 70 stories tall — will trigger the mass displacement of low-income immigrant residents, as well as endanger the health of surrounding communities.

They called on D.O.B. to revoke the Chetrit Group’s work permits, and to respond to a letter they sent the agency last week.

“Stop the towers!” they chanted. “Save our homes! We can’t wait! Chinatown is not for sale! Bullies not welcome!”

Opposition to the impending construction of four supertall towers along South Street in the Two Bridges neighborhood of the Lower East Side has been a rallying cry for many in Lower Manhattan since before 2018.

Now, according to Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, who spoke at the rally, developers across the city are rushing to break ground on projects in the next 10 weeks, before New York State’s 421a tax-abatement program, often criticized as a blatant developer giveaway, expires in June.

“There are folks that are going to try to push through for emergency permits, for rapid permits, for permits to try to speed up different kinds of developments right now, because the Legislature has let expire 421a,” Niou said. “We’re here today because we know the true cost of the out-of-scale megadevelopments that ignore the needs of the community, like the one that Chetrit is trying to push through in the last days of the 421a program.

==================
https://thevillagesun.com/foes-fight...y-work-permits

[MAC123]

"Opposition to the impending construction of four supertall towers along South Street in the Two Bridges neighborhood"
Ehhh, wrong. As far as I know there is only 1 supertall.
But anyway this will not go anywhere, and the towers will go through.

[NYguy]

https://boweryboogie.com/2022/05/exc...-towers/?amp=1

Excavation Begins for 70-Story South Street Towers




Elie
5/16/22

Cranes, and plywood, and pile-drivers, oh my! Such is the story down on the Lower East Side waterfront.

Department of Buildings on April 12 issued official approval to the Chetrit Group to begin foundation activities for its dual 70-story tower at 265 South.

A month later, the big trucks are mobilized.

While excavation is now underway, permits for the superstructure itself are not yet approved by the city. Ergo, this hurry-up work is likely an attempt to take advantage of 421-a tax exemptions which are set to expire next month.

As reported, the Chetrit Group acquired the this development parcel from CIM/L+M last fall for $78 million. The 70-story luxury newcomer is to rise atop the current Lands End II parking lot. It’ll boast roughly 1,350 apartments, more than 300 of which earmarked as affordable; retail spaces are also anticipated on the Cherry Street front, including the possibility of a grocery or pharmacy.

[NYguy]