Developer Wants 40 Stories in Greenpoint

In 2005, the city approved new upzoning laws for the Greenpoint waterfront, allowing up to 30 stories (pictured: the city's rendering of what the waterfront could look like). Now the Brooklyn Paper reports that developer Dean Palin (the man behind this monstrosity) wants to build a 40-story, 422-unit rental tower as part of a 620-unit development at his 155 West Street property. Brownstoner points out that he "paid a whopping $84,750,000 for the site a couple years back and has just recently filed for demolition permits." He'll have to fight to get those extra 10 stories, which he claims to need because "he cannot build within 50 feet of a sewage pipe that runs through the lot, and he cannot touch a 25-foot section of wetlands at the corner of the property." However, Assemblyman Joe Lentol of Williamsburg says the developers knew what they were getting into upon purchasing the property; Lentol strongly opposed 40-story towers at the Domino Sugar development earlier this year.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in News on November 20, 2008 11:48 AM

Comments [rss]

inthegpt

ungh, at this point I don't even care about the eyesore or overtaxing the neighborhood resources and infrastructure... I just can't take living in a construction zone anymore. The horrible Veridian building (which advertises Virtual Golf as a selling point) is nearly finished after 1.5 noisy, polluting, sexual harassing years of construction. Isn't there some kind of public health and sanity regulations regarding construction zones? None of us can sleep past 6:30am when the trucks start up.

widefive

Are these folks going to take the G train to work? The L? Have fun!

NannyState

let him go ahead. This project will only make it to thirty stories before Palin files for Chapter 7.

hungryghoast

#8 has the best point that I've been wondering for years regarding all this development... Even if you filled all these buildings, who is going to pony up the funding for all the schools/hospitals/other essential services that all those people and their families would need? there's been absolutely no consideration for this, it's fucking absurd.

virgil

I hope these things stand empty for years, then sink into the oily Greenpoint sludge as a kind of artificial reef.

JMH

If you can't make money on a 30-story rental tower, you paid too much for the lot.

matthew

Hopefully one of the upsides of the impending economic doom will be a hard freeze on shit projects like this one. Also, I cannot imagine who will blow their money to live on the far end of west street, views or no.

zstone

Looks like a suburban business campus. He should be allowed to build the whole thing if he cleans up all the oil under Greenpoint.

Spirit of 76

There are times when a complete credit freeze is a good thing.

mihow

And then who is going to build and fund the schools needed to house all the children these people bring with them?

This is just getting absurd. It's almost laughable, seriously. Regulation needs to happen soon or these people are going to be crying for help.

I need to start laughing or I'm just going to get angry.

mihow

Maybe it can become home to all the unemployed Citibank employees. A retirement community but for the unemployed.

mihow

Who the hell is going to fill all of this shit? They are having trouble filling the 12-person rentals right now. Seriously.

Who does he think is going to rent these? What the hell, man?

debra88

It's an eyesore yes, but this sort of development is old news at this point. As far as a 'monstrosity' is concerned, I'm sure the business owners up there might be singing a different tune.

grove

i just vomitted.

jaycjay

"the developers knew what they were getting into upon purchasing the property"

Exactly. Surely this guy can't be saying that he spent $84 million on this property without checking on it enough to know that it included wetlands and a sewer pipe. If he did, he's an incompetent developer who deserves to lose money anyway until he finds a business he can handle.