Council Member Restler questions on 32BJ agreement and step-down design

Councilman Ressler, do you have questions?

Thank you so much, Chair Lewis.

A few questions from me.

Firstly,

In my experience, for larger buildings like this one, it is smart to work with 32BJ.

The workers do a great job.

There's a great model that they have, and it's a sensible approach.

Have you begun conversations with...

The union, do you anticipate working out an agreement with them in advance of a vote?

Yes.

Great.

That was the best answer.

Just one word, approval.

I like it.

Off to a great start.

From the first conversations I had with the development team, I don't know, two plus years ago, I've been concerned about the kind of step down that you reference in your presentation.

Similar to 325 Kent, which has the step down kind of going from Kent to our

Board Weiss, we wanted to make sure that that same occurs here.

And I appreciate that you've modified your proposal to reflect that.

What assurances do we have that that will be what actually gets built?

So the applicant, and I can hand this over to Toby.

So this is a rezoning.

The buildings that we're showing you are illustrative.

But to date, this is what the applicant has instructed their applicant team that they intend to build.

I think there's a desire, and Toby is the architect, so I'm sure there's a lot of reasons from an architectural standpoint that he can relay.

But from a land use planning standpoint, bulk wants to be on the wider street, not on the side streets.

And while we are setting the building back and while there is going to be a sidewalk widening, there is a desire just from a general marketing and planning sense to have more bulk on that side.

Toby, I'll turn it over to you if you have any specific questions.

Reasons why the bulk wants to be on the Kent Avenue side.

Or I'll just add, is there anything that requires or forces?

There is nothing that technically in the zoning requires you to have it that way.

That's it on the record.

But from a developer's perspective, every incentive is to have the building located along close, more bulk along Kent Avenue.

Fair enough.

No, I mean, agreed that.

We're just seeking a map change, not any special bulk regulations or anything.

But, yeah, but to Jeremy's point, you know, there are fantastic views of the East River and the Manhattan skyline, and it makes sense to site the building in such a way to take advantage of that.