Q&A
Exploration of adaptive reuse options for the site
0:51:00
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114 sec
Council Member Abreu inquires about the feasibility of adaptive reuse for the existing site. The panel explains the various attempts made to repurpose the property and why they were unsuccessful.
- The current owners explored options with Columbia University, but the building was deemed too small for their needs
- Discussions were held with Brooklyn Brewery, but their architects and engineers also found the site too small
- Previous commercial uses, including restaurants and clubs, have failed to sustain business at the location
- The site's limitations led the current owners to pursue residential development as the most viable option
Shaun Abreu
0:51:00
Thank you.
0:51:01
And my last question is, why is adaptive reuse of the site not feasible?
Neil Weisbard
0:51:07
Continue the site as is?
Shaun Abreu
0:51:09
Yeah.
0:51:09
Turning a building to something that it was not originally designed for.
Neil Weisbard
0:51:12
Yes.
0:51:12
So the ownership did me over the last when they first purchased the property with Columbia to see if they could be used for any purpose that Columbia had.
0:51:20
And Columbia said the building was too small for what they were trying to do.
0:51:24
They also met with the the the Brooklyn brewer, I believe, and they were ready to enter into Alyssa, actually.
0:51:30
But when their architects and engineers looked at the site, they also said it was too small.
0:51:34
So when the when the applicant purchased the prize initially, they didn't wanna do any of this rezoning.
0:51:40
They met with 2 parties where nothing could be done Then they met with a another party said, well, we could possibly do residential development here, and that's why we proceeded with this application.
Steve Wygoda
0:51:50
And also, just so you know, as I said, I worked on the commercial spaces, restaurants, We used to have the New York Yankees go there after games.
0:52:02
We used to have well, you probably know Fernando Mateo, run the club.
0:52:05
I've worked with him for years, and it lasted, and it just died in previous to to It
Shaun Abreu
0:52:11
was the it was the the pH UK lounge there.
Steve Wygoda
0:52:16
Yeah.
0:52:16
Yeah.
0:52:17
Yeah.
0:52:18
And before that, it was an Asian fusion restaurant.
Shaun Abreu
0:52:21
I'm very familiar, you know, in the area.
Zef Gjini
0:52:23
So
Steve Wygoda
0:52:24
Yeah.
0:52:24
And that we had the governor ex Governor Patterson go there and have meetings, but it was a very difficult thing to continue.
0:52:34
And and so the which those things were tried before our client purchased the property to develop it.
0:52:41
And as Neil said, he tried numerous other things.
0:52:45
So so commercial uses for two floors just failed, and it's gonna continue to fail.
Erik D. Bottcher
0:52:52
Chair, I
Shaun Abreu
0:52:53
have no more questions at this time.
