Ok, so this was my own nosy neighbor, but it also allowed me to revisit my post from December on the proposed tower for Independence Plaza at Jay, and see if there are any updates from the developers. The news: none.
The answer to the question above, from the press folks for Stellar Management: also none. “We’re still so early in the process that we don’t even have an address for the new tower.”
Below is a cut-and-paste of this post from December, with this simple update from last week: No updates on the project at this time.
You can see the full details in this post here, but in short: the two owners of Independence Plaza, Vornado Realty Trust and Stellar Management, intend to build a 940-foot tower on their complex at Greenwich and Jay, the southern half of IP called 3C.
The developers do not have to seek a zoning change — building there is as-of-right — but they do have to go through an 18-month review process that includes a environmental impact study, which requires community input. They originally intended to start that clock in summer 2024, but that clearly did not happen. Their press rep told me plans are currently on hold due to the mayor’s City of Yes policies, among other things.
“As I’m sure you know, since Stellar presented some options for additional development at Independence Plaza in December, there have been significant changes to city and state housing policy,” he said last year. “The Stellar team is assessing how these changes might affect its options.”
From what I understood about the City of Yes Housing Opportunity, it would allow for modest up-zones in under-developed neighborhoods or low-density parcels: “City of Yes would make it easier to add new contextual, height-limited buildings to campuses.” But this seemed like it would not fit into that scenario, since development is already allowed. So I turned to James Bogardus, who rewarded me with this answer — albeit with a caveat: “I would anticipate two categories of possible opportunities here. That said, I have not considered this question very deeply.”
From James, on this specific question: How would the City of Yes affect the proposal for the new 900-foot tower at Independence Plaza?
1. Add more (free market) FAR to an as-of-right project.
2. Reduce or eliminate the cost of quelling local political opposition that could stall development.
Use Universal Affordability Preference to add 20% more housing than otherwise allowed, provided it is more affordable housing than even Mandatory Inclusionary Housing [the existing zoning policy that requires developers to include a certain percentage of affordable housing units within new residential developments]. Pay for it using 485x [a New York State tax abatement program that encourages the construction of affordable housing] or other tax incentives. Make it difficult for CM Marte to organize opposition, at not much loss of profit.
So…clearly more TK.
Vanity addresses are often requested by developers from the Borough President’s office, to make a building more marketable. This article is quite informative: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/realestate/a-park-avenue-address-not-exactly.html