Plans for an ambitious mixed-use development in the current building Parking lot in the port area finally opensThis comes after the state appellate court declined to review a lower appellate court decision that had previously approved it.
The victory for Howard Hughes Holdings, which has been building since purchasing the land at 250 Water Street in 2018, goes to Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who previously presided over Donald Trump’s civil trial. It was another harsh slap in the face. this year.
An Engoron ruling that sought to block another developer’s plans to build a new tower on the Lower East Side was also overturned last year.
Hughes’ plan is to build an $850 million, 27-story complex with 399 market-rate and affordable rental apartments on top of five floors of office, retail and community space. are planning. Currently, the entire site is a parking lot.
Howard Hughes CEO David O’Reilly said Monday’s court decision “clears the way for Seaport Entertainment Group to begin construction.”
The project would receive a tax exemption under the extension of the 421a program for certain developments that was included in the recent state budget’s housing agreement.
The proposal was given the go-ahead by the Landmarks Commission, City Council and Planning Commission, but neighbors, not wanting to lose their opinion, filed a lawsuit seeking to block the proposal on a variety of spurious grounds.
Even after the plan passed the city’s comprehensive land use review pipeline, Engoron halted the project in early 2023, citing supposedly “impermissible” ties between Hughes and the Landmarks Commission. I tried.
He was unanimously denied by the Appellate Division.
The project’s opponents then asked the Court of Appeals to intervene, but as usual, the Court of Appeals refused on Monday, which is not always the case when the Court of Appeals’ decisions are unanimous.
The newly left-leaning Court of Appeals recently took the unusual step of reversing a unanimous Appellate Division decision that upheld Harvey Weinstein’s New York conviction.
