The Board of Standards and Appeals yesterday reversed its earlier ruling in April that the Department of Buildings could not limit the height of a proposed building at 330 West 86th Street and referred the matter to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
The April ruling, according to an article by Avi in today's edition of the Westside Independent, "was considered one of the last impediments to the construction of the 17-story building, which would be built on a plot of land just 20 feet wide."
"The developer, Dark Horse Development, had spent a decade trying to win a fight to build the condo tower," the article noted, adding that yesterday's ruling "vindicates the community advocates who opposed the demolition," according to Council Member Gale Brewer.
Robert Ricciardelli is the managing director of Dark Horse Development.
Barry Rice is the architect of the proposed 17-story building, which would be about one-story taller than its immediate neighbors.
The 17-story building would contain only four apartments and replace a five-story building.
In an earlier article, Avi wrote that Landmark West, the Coalition for a Livable West Side, the West End Preservation Society and the West 80's Neighborhood Association planned to oppose the development and urge the Board of Standards & Appeals to reverse its decision.
In an April 23, 2007 article in its New York City Real Estate Blog, the firm of Newman Ferrara LLP provided the following commentary about the property which had become property of the City of New York after an in rem tax foreclosure proceeding and at which time it had numerous code violations:
"The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) labeled the property an Urban Development Action Area Project (UDAAP) because the building impeded 'sound growth and development of the municipality.' (UDAAP's purpose is to incentivize owners to renovate and rehabilitate properties.) Under the program, HPD sells the property to tenants at an appraised value, rather than at the market rate. In return, the tenants promise to remove all code violations and hazardous conditions and maintain the existing tenants' rent for two years. If the tenants cannot or will not purchase the property, HPD then sells the property to the highest bidder. HPD offered the occupants of 330 West 86th Street an option, through June 30, 1998, to purchase the building for $340,000....Rather than address the code violations, on February 13, 2001, Oaks Corp. sold the building to 330 West 86th Street, LLC (330 West) for $1 million. (330 West allegedly planned to demolish the existing structure and erect a high-rise apartment building in its place.)"
Before the sale closed, however, "328 Owners Corp., the owners of a neighboring structure, filed suit in New York County Supreme Court seeking a declaration that the deed 'restricts the use of the land and that the new owner and any successors or assigns must act within those constraints.'"
The Supreme Court dismissed all claims against Oaks Corp. (the seller) and partially granted 328 Owners Corp.'s and the City's motions, but that ruling was reversed by the Appellate Division, First Department and then the New York Court of Appeals reinstated the Supreme Court's judgment.
"Interestingly, despite the adverse ruling, all was not lost. The court suggested that these deed restrictions would not run "in perpetuity" and that once the governing restrictions expired 'by their own terms' or an owner made a special application to the court to 'extinguish' them 'by reason of changed conditions or other cause,' a different use of the property might be realized at some point in the future. So, as far as real estate is concerned, it looks like only 'hope' (rather than deed restrictions) springs eternal."
The April ruling, according to an article by Avi in today's edition of the Westside Independent, "was considered one of the last impediments to the construction of the 17-story building, which would be built on a plot of land just 20 feet wide."
"The developer, Dark Horse Development, had spent a decade trying to win a fight to build the condo tower," the article noted, adding that yesterday's ruling "vindicates the community advocates who opposed the demolition," according to Council Member Gale Brewer.
Robert Ricciardelli is the managing director of Dark Horse Development.
Barry Rice is the architect of the proposed 17-story building, which would be about one-story taller than its immediate neighbors.
The 17-story building would contain only four apartments and replace a five-story building.
In an earlier article, Avi wrote that Landmark West, the Coalition for a Livable West Side, the West End Preservation Society and the West 80's Neighborhood Association planned to oppose the development and urge the Board of Standards & Appeals to reverse its decision.
In an April 23, 2007 article in its New York City Real Estate Blog, the firm of Newman Ferrara LLP provided the following commentary about the property which had become property of the City of New York after an in rem tax foreclosure proceeding and at which time it had numerous code violations:
"The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) labeled the property an Urban Development Action Area Project (UDAAP) because the building impeded 'sound growth and development of the municipality.' (UDAAP's purpose is to incentivize owners to renovate and rehabilitate properties.) Under the program, HPD sells the property to tenants at an appraised value, rather than at the market rate. In return, the tenants promise to remove all code violations and hazardous conditions and maintain the existing tenants' rent for two years. If the tenants cannot or will not purchase the property, HPD then sells the property to the highest bidder. HPD offered the occupants of 330 West 86th Street an option, through June 30, 1998, to purchase the building for $340,000....Rather than address the code violations, on February 13, 2001, Oaks Corp. sold the building to 330 West 86th Street, LLC (330 West) for $1 million. (330 West allegedly planned to demolish the existing structure and erect a high-rise apartment building in its place.)"
Before the sale closed, however, "328 Owners Corp., the owners of a neighboring structure, filed suit in New York County Supreme Court seeking a declaration that the deed 'restricts the use of the land and that the new owner and any successors or assigns must act within those constraints.'"
The Supreme Court dismissed all claims against Oaks Corp. (the seller) and partially granted 328 Owners Corp.'s and the City's motions, but that ruling was reversed by the Appellate Division, First Department and then the New York Court of Appeals reinstated the Supreme Court's judgment.
"Interestingly, despite the adverse ruling, all was not lost. The court suggested that these deed restrictions would not run "in perpetuity" and that once the governing restrictions expired 'by their own terms' or an owner made a special application to the court to 'extinguish' them 'by reason of changed conditions or other cause,' a different use of the property might be realized at some point in the future. So, as far as real estate is concerned, it looks like only 'hope' (rather than deed restrictions) springs eternal."
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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