New Group Prepares for Battle Against Proposed 940-Foot Tower in Tribeca

If built as originally proposed, the residential tower would be more than double the height of the three 39-story Independence Plaza towers. Illustration: Community First Development Coalition 

A year has passed without a word from the developers of a proposed 940-foot tower [1] in Tribeca’s Independence Plaza (IPN) complex. But not so for the project’s opponents. A new group has formed to fight that project and even the potential for other residential towers in Tribeca they fear may follow.

Enlisting the advice of experts in engineering, zoning, flood resiliency, and historic preservation, the Community First Development Coalition [2] is building an arsenal of knowledge to counter a project they fear will be a devastating blow to the surrounding neighborhood.

“So, what are our options?” Richard Corman, a leader of the organization, told a gathering of residents at a public meeting held on Dec. 10 at Borough of Manhattan Community College. “Frankly, we're exploring many, and we’re just at the beginning.”

“Of course,” he added, “in the end, there may be litigation.”

Concerns run the gamut over a project of that size—well over twice the height of the adjacent 39-story IPN towers. Construction, opponents say, would be an assault on neighborhood quality of life, especially for residents of the  IPN tower next door at 310 Greenwich Street, and could destabilize the historic Federal-era townhouses just north of the site. Once constructed, the building’s impact on light and air for surrounding buildings as well as the wind effects on Greenwich Street are among other worries.

In March, a spokesman for the developers, IPN owners Stellar Management and Vornado Real Estate Trust, said the project “will go through the full CEQR  [City Environmental Quality Review] before construction begins, including preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that will outline the steps needed to minimize the impact of the new construction on existing tenants and the surrounding community, including the Federal-era townhouses.”

The group says their first step is to determine whether Vornado and Stellar must go through the city’s lengthy land use review process in which City Councilman Christopher Marte, an opponent, could potentially derail a project of that size. (The developers have said that because no zoning change or new waivers are required for the site, they do not need to go through a land use review.)

“Right now we're going through the documents,” said Coalition trustee Meredith James. “It's a pretty slow process because this site was created in 1969. So it’s all paper documents and we’re trying to see if they do have a right [to skip a land use review] or not.”

There are also questions over how the recently passed changes to city-wide zoning, known as City of Yes [1], could impact the project. According to Marte, who voted against the Adams administration initiative, developers have the option of building a much wider structure, but one that matches the height of the IPN tower. (If the building included a percentage of below-market-rate apartments, it could be taller, he said.)

In an email statement to the Trib, Jake McNichol, a spokesman for the developers, said that in anticipation of the changes to the city’s housing policy, Vornado and Stellar have “paused work on the IP project” while City of Yes was going through the Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP).

“Now that it has passed, Stellar and [Vornado] are assessing how the changes to the zoning code affect their options for development at IP. We will share more information once we have a complete understanding of how City of Yes affects what is possible at the site.”

While the Community First Development Coalition says its main focus is defeating the possible 940-foot tower, it also is looking at potential development around Tribeca where there are no height limits under current zoning, “to make sure the future of Tribeca is protected and is the kind of future, is the kind of community and neighborhood that we all moved into and that we love and that we want to protect and preserve,” Corman said. 

Down the road, the group says, that could mean a push for zoning that would bring down the height of potential “supertall” buildings on sites such as Borough of Manhattan Community College and PS 234. (“The School Construction Authority has done joint ventures with developers…putting the school into the base and putting the residential tower above,” said Eric Anderson, a real estate consultant and Coalition member.) But with community backing, the group said, it could also advocate for “up zoning” on some sites, which would mandate permanently affordable units in future projects, another objective of the organization.

“The long term is if we don’t start on that now, then we’ll just be dealing, one after another, as [new tower proposals] come along and every time we'll be too late,” Corman said. “So we need to plan for the long term. And I’m really happy to say that our coalition is ready for that.”

In the meantime, Marte said, the community coming together around the proposed 940-foot tower, “is creating a pressure that the developers don’t want to face, especially when there’s potential litigation, especially when they know a community is organized, and is educated in fighting back.”