Hudson Companies

A team led by the Hudson Companies will give rise to a mixed-income village along the banks of the once-toxic Gowanus Canal, the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced today. The Gowanus “Public Place” will have 774 units of housing (541 below market rate) among a complex of buildings, and comes as the city eyes a transformation for the once (and still, to some extent) industrial area.

The winning team, which also includes the Bluestone Organization, the Fifth Avenue Committee and Jonathan Rose Companies, beat out Stephen Ross, the Miami Dolphins-owning, constantly building CEO of The Related Companies.

Mr. Ross, who built the Time Warner Center, has had a big string of defeats in the competitions on publicly-owned land. Related’s Pier 40 proposal has been all but tossed out, the company lost its bid for the West Side rail yards after News Corp. pulled out as an anchor tenant, and now this.

Toll Brothers has its own residential project lining the Canal, as does Whole Foods, which is trying to put a supermarket on a brownfield.  read more »

The Villager breaks it down for us today on the planned 26-story N.Y.U. dorm at the site of the former St. Ann's Church at 124 East 12th Street. (The story is not yet online.) According to the paper, a coalition of local residents and political clubs is suing the developer, Hudson Companies, which bought the air rights for the project for $7.7. million from the nearby Cooper Station Post Office.

While suing a developer to stop a project is nothing out of the ordinary in this city, the reasons for the lawsuit are: Apparently, federal properties are exempt from city zoning. The lawsuit argues that because of this, the city has no way to regulate the air rights from the Cooper Station. Basically, if the project goes on, the Cooper Station can sell its air rights once again, even though they've previously been sold.
From The Villager:

David Satnick, attorney for Hudson Companies, spoke against the injunction and said the agreement between the Postal Service and Hudson Companies insured the Postal Service had, in effect, sold its air rights to the developer and relinquished any future right to build over its property.

But did the USPS relinquish its right to sell even more air rights? Interesting question. State Supreme Court Justice Edward H. Lehner should rule on it--or refer it to administrative review--soon.

-Matthew Grace

Previous coverage here.  read more »

New York University and the Hudson Companies have been meeting some stiff opposition from area residents over the planned dorm development at 110-124 East 12th Street, the former site of St. Ann's Church (where only the church's steeple, pictured, remains--N.Y.U. says it'll be incorporated into the new building's design). The school plans on using the air rights of the nearby Cooper Station Post Office to construct a tower up to 26 stories high (although the school's vice president of campus planning, Sharon Greenberger, in a community town-hall meeting on Dec. 19, said the size of the building has not been determined; see The Villager's report for details).

Now the local community board is getting involved. On Dec. 22, Community Board 3 voted to create a subcommittee "to respond to community and board concerns … regarding the height, density and operation of the proposed buildings." With the addition of Community Board 3 into the fray, the battle over the dorm is sure to get interesting. Already the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation is leaning on the school to minimize the bulk and height of the building, and area residents are becoming increasingly vocal about the development.

We'll see what happens--stay tuned.  read more »

-Matthew Grace

At Community Board 3's zoning-committee meeting this Tuesday, Dec. 6, New York University and the Hudson Companies will make a presentation on their planned 26-story, 700-bed dorm at 110-124 East 12th Street.

That's the site of the mostly demolished St. Ann's Church--only portions of the front facade remain (pictured)--and N.Y.U. and Hudson have been planning for some time to use the air rights from the nearby Cooper Station Post Office to make the dorm the tallest building in the East Village.  read more »

The meeting's at Kenton Hall, at 333 Bowery, at 6:30 p.m.

-Matthew Grace