Westbrook Partners and Atlas Capital Group have submitted changes to their St. John’s Terminal project proposal, based on feedback from the City Planning Commission.
The changes to the 1.7M SF multi-building, mixed-use project include the removal of an elevated park planned for the long-defunct elevated rail at 550 Washington St, after the commission raised concerns about the park’s "impact on the pedestrian experience on the sidewalks below.” Westbrook and Atlas will now remove the rail beds and put in a ground-level open space with seating and plantings, DNAInfo reports.
The two developers are also promising a 10k SF indoor recreation space at the project’s center, which’ll be available to the public for half of its operating hours, and then exclusive to building residents. A third party will manage the space and advertise its availability for community use, but Westbrook may charge fees to cover maintenance.
The two are also changing the retail’s focus from one big-box retail space to a minimum of seven ground-floor retail spaces on West Houston Street and Clarkson streets, although the "appropriate" limitations to below-ground retail will still need to be discussed with the Department of City Planning.
Not everyone is pleased with the changes, with Community Board 2 board chair Tobi Bergman calling the indoor recreational space "disappointing.”
"You're still always going to feel like you're in a condo amenity space where you don't belong," he said. The board is expected to push for the space to take up two floors and demand details on the ceiling height and column spacing.
Westbrook is looking for a developer partner to provide $100M for the project.
”St John’s Center will be a great project that brings vibrancy and life back to this site while providing urgently needed funding to Pier 40 and affordable housing," the development partners told Bisnow. "The modifications to the project reflect the constructive, collaborative discussions we have had with the community, elected officials, and the City since initiation of this project.” [DNA]
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