REMARKS
Whitestone Lanes Rezoning: Presentation
1:14:13
·
6 min
Eric Palatnik delivers his presentation explaining the Whitestone Lanes Rezoning.
Speaker 17
1:14:13
So what we've asked you to do is rezone the property to a residential development If it were to be approved, it would stand 9 stories and 95 feet tall.
1:14:23
If you can go to next slide, please.
1:14:26
Go one more slide, please.
1:14:29
So there's only district to turn to an R 78.
1:14:31
If you can go to the next slide, please.
1:14:34
And the R 7 a district would bring with it in as of right development that would include 415 Apartments and 113 permanently affordable units with 0 commercial space in the building and 0 community facility space.
1:14:50
So the community board, though, in the 5 years that we've been working them weren't just concerned about traffic and eliminating the commercial.
1:14:56
They were also concerned about the traffic patterns If you can go to the next slide, please.
1:15:02
Next slide, please.
1:15:05
They were also concerned about an open plaza that we're required to provide by a part by requirement of city planning.
1:15:12
The area is is underserved with respect to public parks.
1:15:17
It has very little open space.
1:15:19
So as a requirement of the environmental assessment, statement were required to provide open space.
1:15:24
But we didn't just provide open space.
1:15:26
We provided a Manhattan quality style plaza the likes of which have never been seen in this part of Queen's.
1:15:34
We worked very closely with the community board who had first had concerns over it, and we worked very closely with city planning.
1:15:40
That plaza has turned into a very expensive undertaking to keep it and and and and build it at the style that we've designed it.
1:15:48
Which is equivalent to a pop standard.
1:15:50
And you can see the plaza on the right hand side there.
1:15:53
On the top slide.
1:15:54
Next slide, please.
1:15:58
Next slide, please.
1:15:59
Let me go to the next one.
1:16:01
Hang on the next one.
1:16:04
And one more.
1:16:05
Hopefully, we get to the traffic.
1:16:06
Next one, keep going if you can, please.
1:16:09
Okay.
1:16:10
So here you can see the traffic patterns on the streets around it.
1:16:13
You can see the car is backed up.
1:16:14
You can go to the next slide.
1:16:18
It shows your elevation of the building.
1:16:19
Just keep going if you can.
1:16:20
I'm gonna get to another slide.
1:16:22
There you go.
1:16:22
That's what I'm trying to go.
1:16:24
Alright.
1:16:24
If you can go to the next slide, one more forward, maybe, and one more.
1:16:30
Here you go.
1:16:32
This gives you an overview of the property right now.
1:16:35
The way the property is, this shows you the arrows coming in and out.
1:16:38
There's meant to show you egress.
1:16:40
Those traffic entrances that you see with the red arrows are going to be mimicked in the new development.
1:16:45
If you can go to the next slide, please.
1:16:50
And you can see one more slide forward, please.
1:16:53
Okay.
1:16:54
So what we're showing you here, if you look at the slide at the top is showing you cars are coming in on one side of the property, and they're exiting on the other side.
1:17:01
The idea of it coming in from the Linden side, only no exits on the Linden side, which is the top.
1:17:06
Again, is to protect the traffic pattern.
1:17:09
If you go to the next slide, please.
1:17:13
This shows you how much time and effort has been put into it.
1:17:16
And again, this is all explaining to you why the building has no commercial use.
1:17:20
We gave up perhaps one of the most profitable components of the building with our work with the community board in order to develop a building that would reduce traffic As you could see here, the proposal is shown on the left.
1:17:35
The ads of right that could be built there such as the distribution facility, or community facility is on the right.
1:17:41
The elimination of an incredibly incredibly supportive income generating component such as the proposed commercial use that was in the application originally and the removal of it during negotiations and discussions with the community is perhaps one of the most expensive community benefits I've ever put into a project before.
1:18:02
We gave up a lot to do that and we did it to earn the support of the community.
1:18:06
If you can go to the next slide, please.
1:18:10
Next slide, please.
1:18:12
We were asked by the community to do a lot of work on school sheets.
1:18:17
And if there was enough school sheets in the community, for us to accommodate all of the future students.
1:18:22
And this slide shows you that we've done all of that.
1:18:25
Next slide, please.
1:18:28
And the ads of right alternatives.
1:18:30
What we're trying to show you here is next slide.
1:18:35
Is that this is what can be built on the property.
1:18:38
If if this project does not go forward, these are the acts of rights alternatives.
1:18:43
You could build a hospital, you could be to build a distribution facility, or you could build a mix of the 2 and some kind of community facility.
1:18:51
We're not here to do that today.
1:18:52
We would like to build residential.
1:18:54
We worked very hard to secure nearly unanimous support of community planning board 7.
1:18:59
The support of Donovan Richards, the borough president, and the support of city planning.
1:19:03
And we would hope that everybody likes the project that we've set forth today.
1:19:07
Can you go to the next slide, please?
1:19:11
One more slide.
1:19:14
This goes to what I was saying a moment ago.
1:19:16
There is no proposed commercial use within the building.
1:19:19
If you saw the location of the building now on the Whitestone expressway next to commercial, it's actually called Whitestone Lanes.
1:19:25
It has commercial use in it.
1:19:27
We've eliminated that commercial use.
1:19:29
And the reason we've done that again, so it could be abundantly clear, was after years of discussion with this community, This is a model of a rezoning.
1:19:38
This is a good example of a rezoning that we worked with the incoming council member.
1:19:42
We're working with the current council member.
1:19:44
And we've worked with every single stakeholder in the community to secure everybody sign on.
1:19:51
Every single person sign on.
1:19:53
The only thing we haven't done yet, unfortunately, is worked out a deal with some third parties who would like to be involved in the construction of the building.
1:20:01
That we haven't done.
1:20:02
But other than assigning contractual obligations to 3rd parties to build this building, I am presenting to the city of New York to solve its housing crisis, a shovel ready development with a local developer who's sitting in your room, who's been invested in your neighborhood for 50 years.
1:20:23
That's ready to go.
1:20:24
He's ready to build tomorrow.
1:20:26
If we'll make a deal which we're trying to with the 3rd parties, We will make that deal, and I'm hoping we can.
1:20:32
We're going.
1:20:32
We've been sitting with them, and we're gonna try and sit again.
1:20:35
But as far as the land use component to this application goes, Never in my career have I presented an application that has been so well supported, and I'd be doubtful if I'll come back to you again with another application in my career that's been so well supported.
1:20:50
I thank you very much for your time today.
1:20:52
I'd be happy to answer any questions.
