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A new three-building apartment development dubbed River North scored approval from the City Planning Commission this week, paving the way for 750 new apartments to come to Staten Island’s St. George waterfront.
The complex on a 2-acre site at Richmond Terrace and Stuyvesant Place would feature the tallest residential building ever built in the borough, the Staten Island Advance reports. The buildings would reach 26, 25 and 11 stories, but developer Madison Realty Capital needed the location to be rezoned for greater density.
"We continue to engage with our neighbors, community leaders and elected officials to ensure this project doesn’t just deliver much needed stable, affordable housing, but that it strengthens the overall North Shore area,” Madison Realty’s Zachary Kadden told the Advance. “The River North proposal will also offer new and permanent jobs for Staten Islanders, economic development through expanded opportunities for small businesses and public open spaces while beautifying a long abandoned eyesore."
Current zoning rules cap the height for buildings on the site at 34 feet, while these new properties need to be able to reach 250 feet. Community Board 1 has previously voted against the development’s requested rezoning. The development now moves to city council for approval, and if it is knocked back, it would need to be reimagined. Staten Island Borough President James Oddo doesn't back the rezoning and wants something smaller on the site, the Advance reports.
Rezonings have become a major issue across the city in recent years, as New York continues to grapple with the best way to deal with the housing affordability crisis.
Inwood’s rezoning was caught up in multiple legal disputes before it was eventually upheld and given the green light. A proposed rezoning of Industry City was killed, however, in the face of widespread community backlash. In June, the city changed the rezoning approval process to require racial impact reporting after years of critiques from activists that rezonings were accelerating gentrification.
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