LOWER EAST SIDE — A legal battle over who can develop a waterfront site in Two Bridges spilled over into a meeting with community board members and local officials Monday as one developer with designs on the spot presented its plan, only to be challenged by the other.
JDS Development Group presented its plans to build a 1,000-foot-tall apartment building on the site at the meeting hosted by Community Board 3. Their plan would bring 600 new units, 150 of which will be affordable, in addition to ground-floor retail.
The plan is currently being reviewed by the Department of City Planning and is being subjected to an extensive environmental review process.
Meanwhile, a second developer, Little Cherry, LLC, is suing JDS. They accuse the developer of scheming to usurp its development rights to the property, pointing to a 2012 contract they had with the landowners, nonprofits Settlement Housing Fund and Two Bridges Neighborhood Council, to construct a 47-story mixed use building with apartments and retail.
“Suffice to say that the right for us to build a neighborhood building and a community space, or for anyone to build using the air space above the premises without our consent, is a matter that will be settled in court,” said Justin Stern, a representative of Little Cherry.
“We find it hard to understand why JDS is coming to you today to present the plan.”
Little Cherry had already brought a separate lawsuit against its nonprofit partners in 2014 alleging a breach of contract, which also has yet to be resolved, court records show.
In addition to claiming it holds a ground-lease expiring in 2044 to a chunk of the property, Little Cherry alleges that the 2012 contract guaranteed it air and development rights of the entire lot, where it sought to build a mixed-use, mixed-income residential building that would have been roughly half the height of the now-underway JDS structure.
Though City Planning had initially stated JDS’ application to develop the site would be placed on hold until the litigation was resolved, the agency in August noted that landowners had withdrawn as co-applicants for Little Cherry’s project, leaving the JDS application the only viable bid for the site.
“For applications of this type, the Department of City Planning can only review projects presented with the participation of the owners of the site subject to an application,” reads an Aug. 23 letter to JDS head Michael Stern and property owner Victor Papa.
Justin Stern, of Little Cherry LLC, said at Monday’s meeting he anticipates the matter being resolved in the coming months or years.
JDS head Michael Stern declined to respond to the allegations, citing ongoing litigation.
Meanwhile, the JDS development remains a source of anxiety for locals, who fear the tower — in addition to two more super-tall developments slated for the neighborhood — will negatively impact their quality of life.
Residents of the neighboring 82 Rutgers Slip have already complained that construction on the Extell Development Corporation’s already-rising One Manhattan Square, rising adjacent to the planned JDS site, has damaged their apartments and blocked their sunlight.
JDS reps have assured residents the damage from their tower will not be as disruptive, since they are not constructing a basement and digging out groundwater, but that they will nonetheless develop a mitigation strategy and remain available to field complaints.
The Department of City Planning has committed to an extensive environmental review process for the JDS tower and neighboring developments from Two Bridges Associates and the Starett Corporation.
A community “task force” will be convened to ensure local voices are heard throughout the process, officials announced in recent weeks.
In the meantime, concerned locals looking to air their grievances or share feedback can take to a newly-launched online platform at courbanize.com, which JDS announced Monday.
