At brief meeting, developer/ESD punt on big questions: affordable housing deadline, project completion, fines, payments.

This is the fourth of four articles about the July 12, 2022 Quality of Life meeting.

I submitted several questions. Some got answers, as noted below, but the big ones got deflected or ignored by developer Greenland Forest City Partners (GFCP) or Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversee/shepherds the project.

Affordable housing obligation

Does GFCP have a plan to meet the May 2025 deadline for affordable housing?

Scott Solish of Greenland USA, which owns nearly all of GFCP, said it was the "same answer that we always have. We're moving ahead with our plans with the platform.... We are working on hitting all of our targets, as we always have."

Except they haven't hit their targets--for example, they announced in 2019 that the platform would start in 2020. 

If that deadline is not met, will ESD enforce the $2,000/month fines for each missing affordable unit? ESD's Tobi Jaiyesimi ignored that question.

Project completion

If GFCP aims to complete the project in eight or nine years, as he claimed, what are the milestones? For example, when must the second phase of the platform be completed? 

No answer.

Urban Room fine

As I noted, the May 12, 2022 deadline to build the Urban Room has already not been met. Fines were already due, increasing steadily. Why hasn't ESD collected the fines? If not, when might amendments to the project plan be filed, and what public benefit is being proposed in exchange?

No answer.

Site 5 payment

Did the developer abandon development rights at Site 5, the parcel long home to Modell's and P.C Richard,  given a deadline to build? If no, when (and how much) did they pay New York City for development rights? if there's no payment, why? 

Solish answered on the first question, saying that no, they hadn't abandoned development rights. (Duh.) But he ignored the others.

School timing

Do ESD/GFCP have an updated completion date for the middle school? 

No answer, though there's one out there: 2025.

Sunny outlook

Have the financial struggles of Greenland USA's parent had any impact on this project? Solish repeated that the answer was no.

As to how will Greenland fund construction of the B5 tower, the first over the Vanderbilt Yard, well, he ignored that one.

An answered question: parks payment

The developer was supposed to invest $1 million by Mary 12, 2022 to improve existing parks around the project site; how much was invested? where and when? 

Solish said that, as I had suspected (but had never gotten confirmed), that money spent by original developer Forest City Ratner to revamp the Dean Street playground qualified.

"Affordable" at B12/B13

What will be the percentage and affordability of the income-targeted units at B12/B13? 

Given that the developer had already announced 30%, it was worth confirming that--because Solish professed uncertainty at another meeting. 

But Amir Stein of TF Cornerstone, which is building the towers, said, " I don't have an answer for you yet but I hope to by the next meeting."

Leasing of latest affordable units

When did leasing for the middle-income, affordable units start at B15 (662 Pacific St. and B4 (18 Sixth Ave.)? How far along is that leasing? What's the percentage of affordable units occupied?

Solish said it's "been going on at both projects for some" and "leasing has been underway at both buildings. So there are tenants living in both projects for, through the lottery." But he had no statistics.

Community liaison

The Memorandum of Environmental Commitments says that the developer must "maintain an on-site construction coordinator" as a liaison with the community." That function has been moved off-site; when will it return?

"So we do have people in the field office," Solish said, plus "the CLO email and phone number here. So if anyone ever had a construction issue, always stop by the field office at 550 Vanderbilt, but usually the best way to get in touch with me or with the project team is through the phone or email." Note: that field office is not designated as a Community Liaison Office

That CLO is supposed to "keep a record (log book) of construction-related complaints received by the CLO from the public and efforts taken to resolve such complaints." Is that log book publicly available? If not, why not?

"We do keep records of any complaints when they come in," Solish said. "There have not been that many frequently." He ignored the question of making the information available.

Other owners

For how long has an emergency boiler truck been on Dean Street outside 461 Dean (B2)? What's the problem? 

Solish said he didn't know and that the owner/operators should be contacted directly, while he could answer big picture questions.