Michael Lappin, CEO of the managing company for what is being called the "New Domino", responded yesterday to our questions about the proposed project via email.

The iconic Domino Sugar sign is not included in these renderings. [We photoshopped it back in, above.] Is there any plan to preserve that somewhere at the site? We are making every effort to save the sign. We are looking at different engineering solutions regarding the “where and how.” It’s a complex problem.

Lappin testified yesterday during a public hearing at the Landmark Preservation Commission, during which the board chairman, Robert B. Tierney, implored developers to "look hard" for a place for the sign.

Some have likened the residential towers to Pez dispensers. Do you see any resemblance? What aesthetic ideas informed the design? The Pez joke is funny; but the joke is based on an incorrect rendering. [N.B.: We posted official renderings yesterday and again below.] The design modulates the overall massing to allow the buildings to relate to the scale of the community to the east of Kent Avenue, while also taking advantage of the great views afforded by the site's location. The articulation of the facades has been broken down into areas of masonry with punched windows and larger expanses of glass in order to relate to the industrial nature of the site and the Refinery, while creating a distinctive and appropriate modern project.

During yesterday's hearing, Lisa Kersavage of the Municipal Art Society strongly objected to the proposed glass box addition on top of the central landmarked Filter House (above): "Plunked on top of the landmark, [it] is simply too large and lacks the compositional organization and the arrangement of details that would relate it to the landmark." Frampton Tolbert, deputy director of the Historic Districts Council, deemed the five story addition "architecturally incongruous."

If the Landmarks Preservation Commission approves the project, what other hurdles remain? We have to go through formal ULURP, with hearings at the Community Board, Borough President, City Planning Commission, and City Council.

When do you expect to break ground, and when is the projected finish? We hope to break ground First Quarter '09. The project will be built in phases and could take 8 years.

What percentage of the units will be for low-income residents? Our plan will provide 50% more affordable housing than is required elsewhere, with almost a third of those affordable units available to households earning between $21,000 and $25,000 per year. The affordables are broken down as follows: 530 rentals – of which 100 units are for families making $21,000; 330 for families making up to $40,000; 100 for seniors who make up to 50% of the median income for the area (AMI); and finally 130 units for families making up to $90,000 annually.

South Williamsburg community groups and local church groups seem to be in favor of the project because of the emphasis on low-income housing, according to the Times. In a prepared statement during the hearing, Lappin stressed that “the primary focus remains affordable housing.” What's also worth noting is Lappin's promise of "a waterfront esplanade along the 1300-foot length of the site, as well as a large open space on the river-side of the Refinery... allowing visual and physical access to the waterfront for the first time in over a century." We're all for an esplanade, but let's not forget that the waterfront has been accessible via the park at the Domino site for quite some time now.

Rendering © Rafael Viñoly Architects