Minskoff Determined to Build His Tower By Carl Glassman Developer Edward J. Minskoff sent some shivers through Tribeca last month with a three-page advertisement for the office tower he plans to build at 270 Greenwich Street, across the street from P.S. 234. The ads, which appeared in Crain’s New York Business, depict the glowing glass and granite tower standing tall in Tribeca, and promised that construction could begin next spring.   The splashy marketing is meant to lure the big corporate tenant Minskoff needs to make the project possible. But it also sends a strong signal to the city and the community that he is moving forward with the 1.5 million-square-foot building despite doubts about its viability after Sept. 11. In response, Community Board 1 is rekindling its opposition, with a meeting of concerned residents on Thursday, June 20 at 5:30 p.m. (Call CB1 at 442-5050 for location.) "We have to make it clear to any tenant thinking about this, that they’re going to hit a wall if they try to build here," said CB1 Chair Madelyn Wils. In April of last year, the city designated Minskoff as the developer of two city-owned blocks, known as Site 5B, bounded by Warren, Greenwich, Murray and West streets. Community leaders vowed to fight the project, saying that its 600-foot height and estimated 5,000 workers would overwhelm the surrounding residential buildings and nearby elementary school, and further choke Chambers Street with traffic and pedestrians. Just days before the World Trade Center attack, opponents testified at an Economic Development Corporation hearing on the scope of the environmental study that Minskoff must   complete before the project enters a review process that includes the community board, City Planning Commission, Borough President and City Council. The community group Save Our Space said it favored restoring Washington Street through the site and putting two smaller buildings—at least one of them residential—on the two lots. The group wanted to create zoning for lower-rise buildings on the eastern half of the site to match the low-rise Greenwich Court buildings on the east side of Greenwich Street. The Trade Center disaster dispersed the community group, many of whom lived in those Greenwich Court buildings. But it also cast doubt on Minksoff’s dream. In fact, his prospects for breaking ground any time soon seemed so remote that Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff had been lobbying a foundation to fund a recreation bubble on 5B, apparently anticipating that the site would remain dormant for at least 18 months. Even now, some say the developer will have a hard time finding tenants, with some 10 million square feet of office space available Downtown. Minskoff, however, said he has seen "significant interest from major companies" and hopes to begin construction next summer and finish in 2005. In a phone interview, he said he has scaled back the project, lopping off about five stories and 200,000 square feet from the original 600-foot-tall, 1.7 million-square-foot building. He also said he has "pushed the building all the way to West Street." A 30,000-square-foot plaza—Minskoff says it would be the third largest in Manhattan—will front onto Greenwich Street to "open up the light on Greenwich Street which the community wanted." The developer continues to assert that his building is in the financial district and bristles when he hears the area characterized any other way. "This isn’t a residential neighborhood," said Minskoff, noting the site’s proximity to the Bank of New York, St. John’s University and the Travelers building. "If the community board and residents down here objected, they should have objected 30 years ago when it was zoned and approved for commercial development." CB 1 chair Madelyn Wils asserted that the zoning is outdated, reflecting the way things were "before people were living here, before there was a P.S. 234, a Battery Park City." "‘As of right’ is a poor excuse for bad urban planing," she added. George Olsen, a real estate lawyer who became president of the P.S. 234 PTA last year to fight the project, said that parents will be "out in front" against the tower in the fall. "The building is so damn big and for a school it is just unbelievable," said Olsen, who envisions ceaseless noise and pollution from the loading dock, which would be across Warren Street from the school. Minskoff said he is anxious to get his building started and be part of the renewal of Downtown. "It’s critical to the welfare of the city from a business perspective to rebuild Lower Manhattan on a faster time schedule," he said. But opponents are not moved. "Lower Manhattan needs an infusion of confidence that Minskoff is demonstrating," said James Percelay, a leading opponent of the project. "However, the residents have been through enough hell that they should at least get their neighborhood back."