Large mixed-use projects aren't getting an automatic greenlight in New York City anymore.
Catherine Curan reports on the ongoing controversy and contingencies surrounding the Industry City mega-development on the Brooklyn waterfront.
According to Curan, the plans to rezone the site to make way for a $1 billion investment in the 6 million-square-foot waterfront complex has been caught up in the post-Amazon headquarters controversy in Long Island City. The questions troubling the Industry City development now, according to Curan: "What should the template be for a massive commercial development that could transform a working-class residential neighborhood? And who gets to decide?"
Industry City's developers, Jamestown Properties, Belvedere Capital, and Angelo Gordon & Co, recently submitted a rezoning application that would pave the way for an additional"1.3 million square feet of space, including retail, hotels and academic facilities," according to Curan. The new development would created double employment in Industry City, to 15,000.
City Councilmember Carlos Menchaca withdrew support for the project earlier this month, however, unless the development did more to address gentrification concerns. That kicked off a cascading effect of politicians expressing similar concerns, and the developers have now delayed their rezoning application.
FULL STORY: Industry City on the rise
A Planning Showdown in New York City
The proposal to rezone the Industry City redevelopment area in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn has won a key approval, but a controversial showdown in the City Council still awaits.
Councilmember Nixes Rezoning Request for Massive Brooklyn Redevelopment Project
Gentrification and displacement concerns won the day over a plan to rezone a former industrial area in Sunset Park, Brooklyn for new retail, offices, hotels and restaurants.
‘Emergent City’ Documentary Highlights Rare Anti-Gentrification Victory
The film charts the saga of a Brooklyn site called Industry City.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
Baltimore to break ground on $50 million Transit Priority Project
The project will bring faster bus trips, safer streets and better bike connections to Baltimore.
Airbnb launches $250 million 'last-dollar financing' housing accelerator, makes first investment in Austin
The company will put $6.4 million towards affordable housing development in Texas’ capital.
Guerilla urbanists are building DIY bus stop benches in Chicago
A before-and-after of one of the bus stops with a new bench. The new benches are not officially sanctioned or permitted, but the residents who placed them hope they will be the start of a network of DIY benches across the city.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association