At a May 4th meeting of the Community Board 8 Land Use Committee, Jackson Development presented their revised renderings of what they propose to build on the Cannon Place/Fort Independence Street lot (at CB 8’s request, they moved the parking entrance to Ft. Independence, thus the revisions).
FIPNA is opposing this plan, as being too large for its location. We also believe that this is a dangerous and difficult spot on which to build, which will make the building too costly to work financially.
Bob Drake, a longtime resident of Ft. Independence Street, scanned the renderings so we could share them with you all. Here they are. Take a look at them, and show them to your neighbors. We invite your comments and questions.
View from Cannon Place looking north
There’s some artistic license taken here: the first three stories of Jackson’s proposed building appear the same size as the small two-story home that already exists to its south. A view looking south, from the northern corner, would show how narrow Cannon Place will appear between Sholem Aleichem on one side, and the proposed building on the other.
The view from Fort Independence Street
This is not an accurate rendering of the building as it has been described to us. (Jackson, if you want to send us a more accurate picture, feel free)
As you can see from this rendering, the building will be built directly next to the long-vacant three story building on Fort Independence Street, which is currently being restored. This is a pretty misleading drawing, as the building must be set back 60′ from Fort Independence Street, and will be on top of the large rock there.
They are also planning to put some parking on this part of the lot, so I think what a pedestrian on Fort Independence Street will see is big rocks (like now) with cars on top, and then a building on top of that.
Again, a little artist’s trick on the height of the building — six stories of the building look no taller than the three story building next door! I can see the real estate ads now: “Lovely apartments for very short people!” From this view, the building looks 9 stories tall, with a glass penthouse. We’ve been given to understand at the Land Use meetings that the building will be six stories tall, and we haven’t heard about the penthouse. But since those 6 stories (or 9 stories) begin on the Cannon Place level, this building will tower 12 stories above Fort Independence Street.
Ground Floor, on Fort Independence Street
Here we see the some outdoor parking, the entrance ramp to the elevator for the parking garage, and the community facility. In the New York City Zoning Resolution, “A community facility use provides educational, recreational, religious, health or other essential services for the community it serves.” Since this will be 7000 sq ft, it will be too small for a daycare facility, unfortunately; Neil Weissman suggested it might be a doctor’s office, and made an oral promise that it would not be a drug treatment facility, a promise he was asked to put in writing. It’s not clear from this drawing how much of the lot the building would cover; one has to imagine that the most of the parking ramp, for example, is covered by the large building above it.
Ground level on the Cannon Place side
Here we see the entrance to the building, a very large mechanical room (where the boiler will be), some apartments, and two “recreation areas”. The building is flush against the property line, making Cannon as narrow as possible, and there is no entrance driveway, so deliveries (from pizza to moving trucks) and cabs dropping off residents and visitors will stop in the street, blocking traffic.
Typical Floor Plan
We have no square footage on the apartments here, but we’ll try to get that for a later post. This floor plan includes 8 two-bedroom, 1-bath apartments, and 6 one-bedroom, one-bath apartments. It appears that half the 2-bedroom apartments and 5 of the one-bedrooms, the galley kitchen is immediately inside the front door — not the most attractive arrangement, especially for those of us who make a mess when we cook!
So what do you think? Does this development belong on this hill? Will people pay $1900 a month to live in it? Post your comments, and your questions! As we get more info about this proposed project, we will post it here — so Subscribe to our website (see box on right side of page) so you’ll get an email when we post new info!
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