Developer Makes Major Changes to Pier 40 St. John's Terminal Project

WEST VILLAGE, NY — Community members, preservationists and local elected officials spoke up, and the developer of the St. John's Terminal project across from Pier 40 got the message. This week, the developers made some fundamental changes to their plans.

The original plan was for the developers of the site, Westbrook Partners and the Atlas Capital Group, to buy $100 million worth of air rights for Pier 40 from the Hudson River Park Trust. They would use the air rights to build a 2 million-square-foot complex with retail, condos, 30 percent affordable housing and possibly a hotel. The Hudson River Park Trust would use the money to make long-needed repairs to the pier.

But the City Planning Commission demanded major changes to the developers' plans, which the developers wrote in a letter that they had taken into account in their "design modifications," DNAinfo reported last week.

Major changes to the developers' plan include getting rid of "big-box retail," canceling the elevated public park they were going to build over West Houston Street, and adding a 10,000-square-foot indoor recreation space that'll be open to the public for just 50 percent of the time.

Community Board 2 wasn't on the same page as the City Planning Commission, though.

Members of Community Board 2 expressed in a meeting last week they weren't happy with some of the changes that were made, DNAinfo reported. Namely, board chair Tobi Bergman said the indoor recreation space would feel more like a private location for condo residents than a public space for people to enjoy.

Photo credit: Sarah Kaufman/Patch