Rose Plaza on to City Council

On Monday afternoon the New York City Planning Commission voted to approve the plans for Rose Plaza, a development slated for the Williamsburg waterfront, 7-5.
The Rose Plaza development is designated for 470-490 Kent Avenue, the Certified Lumber site, adjacent to Schaefer Landing. The plan calls for three high-rise towers, each with retail space on the bottom floor and approximately 801 units of residential housing, 160—or 20 per cent—of which will be affordable. In addition, Rose Plaza aims to establish 33,000 square feet of public open space, including a waterfront esplanade; 496 below-ground parking spaces for residents of the development and a 9,000-foot extension on N. 11th Street, stretching to the river’s edge.
“This proposal is consistent with other plans recently approved by the Planning Commission,” said Chairperson Amanda Burden. “This plan will offer a more varied and interesting skyline, and 14,000 additional square feet of open space. I motion in support.”
The Planning Commission vote was quick and easy, and nearly evenly split, however even the seven commissioners who voted in favor of the plan echoed certain concerns—predominantly regarding the number of affordable units Rose Plaza plans to offer—that have been raised in previous presentations before the community board and the borough president.
“There is definitely more work to be done on this plan,” said Commissioner Anna Levin, who voted in favor of the Rose Plaza plan. “I am pleased that the applicant came back and presented their plans again and that there will be on-site affordable housing. But, there is more to be done.”
Not all commissioners were pleased with the plan, including Commissioner Kenneth Knuckles, who referenced the initial remarks of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who called the number of affordable housing units included in the plan “absolutely unacceptable” at a hearing at Borough Hall in December.
“In addition to the height of the development, I share the borough president’s concern for the assurance of affordable housing, so I reluctantly and regrettably vote no,” Knuckles said.
However, in mid-January, Markowitz changed his mind about the project and publicly signaled his support for the Rose Plaza plan while continuing to implore the developer to pursue the possibility of additional affordable housing units. The commission, on the whole, followed suit: Despite the drawbacks the plan was officially approved, and will now move on to the city council, which has approximately 50 days to make a decision about whether or not to adopt the project.
“We’re pleased that the commission approved the application, but the concern about affordable housing is misplaced, and that’s disappointing to me,” said Howard Weiss, a representative of Rose Plaza LLC. “Every request has been favorably responded to by the applicant. The only concern here is affordable housing, and without this project there would be 160 units of affordable housing the community would not see. It reflects the needs of an entire community, not just a certain sector, and while I’m pleased with the commission as a whole I’m disappointed with those commissioners who voted no based on affordable housing.”
Weiss mentioned that the applicant has recently partnered with private consultant Robert Pauls to review to plans and evaluate the possibility of including more affordable units.
“Now that City Planning approved it, I feel confident that the city council will see the tremendous merit in this project,” Weiss said. “Given other recently approved projects, I can’t imagine they’d vote against it.”
However, local 33rd district Councilmember Stephen Levin remains unconvinced.
“I remain united with Community Board 1 in my firm opposition to the proposed Rose Plaza development. This was one of the closest votes in City Planning in the last 15 years. As I have previously testified, the applicant’s dedication of only 20% of its units to affordable housing is entirely insufficient,” Levin said. “I commend the commissioners who did vote to disapprove the project and I will continue to fight, together with my community, to stop this application.”

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