First Vote on 'Red Hoek Point' Development Will be Cast on Dec. 22

RED HOOK, BROOKLYN — Community Board 6 will cast its first vote Thursday on the proposed Red Hoek Point development at 280 Richards St. in Red Hook.

Thor Equities, the developer behind the 795,000 square foot project, which includes 620,000 square feet of "creative office space" and about 23,000 square feet of retail, is asking the city to cut its parking requirement by approximately half.

The land use committee for CB 6, which represents Red Hook, will decide whether it wants to back that request at its Dec. 22 meeting, scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. at the Miccio Center, located at 110 W. 9th St. (You can read the full agenda here.)

A group of locals forming a group called the Red Hook Community Collaboration have cited Thor's request as a leverage point they can use to negotiate a Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) with the developer.

The group, led by organizers Karen Blondel and Charlene Nimmons, have already submitted a draft CBA to Thor, which, among other things, requests that 10 percent of the proposed property's office space be set aside for community activities.

The company has yet to respond publicly to the CBA, but Thor spokesman Josh Greenwald said the developer believes the project "will have significant benefits for the local Red Hook community."

CRUNCH FITNESS: Also on the CB 6 agenda for Dec. 22: Crunch Fitness wants to open a new gym on a previously vacant lot at 240 Smith St.

According to an application the company filed with the community board, the gym would take up the basement, first and second floors of a three story building, currently under construction on the property.

The 10,000 square foot gym would include fitness, spinning and a women's locker room in the basement, a reception area, child care, exercise equipment and the men's locker room on the first floor, and more exercise equipment on the second floor.

Crunch says it's expecting 4,000 to 6,000 members at the location, and between 500 to 750 visits per day. At its peak, the gym would have 125 people exercising at once. The proposed hours of operation are 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. Finally, the business says it expects to hire 30 staffers for the location.

Pictured at top: a rendering of the proposed Red Hoek Point. Rendering courtesy of Thor Equities.