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St. John's Terminal Developer Meets Wary Residents in First Public Hearing

By Danielle Tcholakian | November 17, 2015 5:46pm
 Architect Rick Cook presented renderings for the proposed St. John's Terminal development at a public hearing last week.
Architect Rick Cook presented renderings for the proposed St. John's Terminal development at a public hearing last week.
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DNAinfo/Danielle Tcholakian

HUDSON SQUARE — The five-building development planned for the St. John's Terminal site will overwhelm the neighborhood's water infrastructure, schools and emergency services, worried residents said at a recent meeting about the proposal.

Developer Atlas Capital plans to create luxury condos and retail space as well as a mix of affordable and senior housing at 550 Washington St. They are trying to buy the air rights to Pier 40 to increase the size of their project while funding badly-needed repairs at Pier 40.

“Is there a plan to put land aside for a school as part of this project?” asked David Gruber, chair of CB2’s Pier 40 Working Group.

After a long silence, Gruber joked, “Don’t all answer at once.”

Other meeting attendees looked dubious when Rick Cook, principal of COOKFOX Architects, which is designing the project, displayed a rendering of an affordable unit looking out onto the Hudson River.

The affordable units will be mixed in with market-rate in a building on Washington Street. A building expected to hold luxury condos stands on West Street, between the Washington Street building and the water.

When an attendee asked him to explain how the mixed-income building would have water views, Cook pointed to renderings of some corner apartments with a line of sight to the water.

"We purposely kept portions of [the luxury condo building] very low," Cook said, adding that his inspiration for the different heights came from the futuristic "Metropolis of Tomorrow" drawings.

The affordable housing will be available to New Yorkers who make either 60 or 130 percent of the median income for the New York area, Atlas principal Andy Cohen said.

The median income is subject to change every year, but by this year's standards, families of three who make either $46,620 a year or $101,010 a year would be eligible for the units.

When questioned on the decision to target such disparate income levels, Cohen said it was “done in conjunction with” the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the city agency responsible for affordable housing.

The developers have commissioned an environmental analysis that will look at the affects of the project on the surrounding neighborhood.

Greg Holisko, a consultant with the firm that will conduct the review, assured attendees that they will look at the effects on local water infrastructure, the shadows the building will cast on Hudson River Park and the ecosystem under the river, as well as the effects of the new population on neighborhood schools.

Locals have long wanted the development to include a new public school, but Atlas has balked at the idea.

Cohen said Atlas will “wait to see the results of the EIS and then make a decision about mitigating” the impact of the families populating the development's 1,500 apartments.

After the meeting, a spokesman for the developers issued a statement saying they were "thankful" to have met with the community.

"We are committed to helping get Pier 40 rebuilt quickly and providing much needed affordable housing for seniors and families," St. John's Center Partners spokesman Glen Caplin said. "As we go through this public and transparent review process, we look forward to working with the community and local elected officials.”