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Construction workers at the Oro Condominiums recenty lost their parking spaces when ground was broken on the 40-story tower’s younger sibling at 311 Gold Street in Downtown Brooklyn. While the 309-unit Oro is all condos, the new project across the street may include rentals, according to Ron Hershco of developer United Homes. While the residential mix may still be up in the air, one major question mark hanging over the project was removed at the end of June when the City Council approved the transfer of 75,000 square feet of air rights (the exact price hasn’t been determined yet, but it’s expected to be in the neighborhood of $9 million) from the adjacent police station as well as a negative easement that would restrict the city’s ability to build within 60 feet of the development above the second floor; as part of the air-rights deal, United Homes also agreed to 13 on-site affordable units (in addition to the 9 units of off-site housing it had already signed up for). As a result, the project size increased from the as-of-right 35 floors to 40 floors, the highest allowed under the area’s zoning. The last piece of the puzzle: To satisfy Tish James’ concerns that the project wasn’t including enough truly affordable housing (a matter she threatened to kill the 5-story addition over), a deal was struck, we hear, whereby HPD would build another 20 affordable units in her district.
Slick as a Brick: Oro Moving Along [Brownstoner]
Oro Tops Off [Curbed] GMAP P*Shark DOB


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  1. Tish James is a loser. She neglects her own tenants and raises rents on them by 10%-12% each leasing period(they are middle class). She is a fake scumbag with a big ego. She yells about the AY project, but meanwhile it would actually directly help people in her district with job creation and housing. She is a public loud mouth. The only thing i hear out of her mouth is dont build past my inflated head height.

  2. To Anonymous at August 7, 2007 3:41 PM: The only way developers can fit the square footage they payed for when they purchased the site is to build up to that 400′ limit. It’s not a coincidence all these towers are about 40 stories.

    If it wasn’t for this limit she enforced developers could build more creatively. Read up on zoning before you go disparaging other people.

  3. Tish James is trying her best to represent a broad spectrum of people and concerns, some of which are not popular with the “build it as high as you can, wherever you can” crowd who expect wherever they live to be an urban paradise, just because they’ve arrived.

    She has to juggle a disparate group of people from vastly different racial, economic, and social groups, who all live in a pretty wide section of Brooklyn. I defy anyone to do much better. If you think you can, run for office.

    I generally have a pretty low opinion of politicians, but Ms James is one of the few who is actually out there trying to do something, and not only when the cameras are rolling. If that makes her flashy and ineffective, I can’t wait to see who you detractors think can do better.

    No, I am not a relative or staff member, just someone who is tired of all of the unsubstantiated Trish bashing, as if she could singlehandedly fix the problems of Brooklyn, or is to blame for all of those same problems.

  4. I just love Shahn’s response. It is not the job of an anonymous blogger to do a better job than an individual who elected to run for a council seat and represent the area’s constituents. I did not vote for Tish and can’t wait until she’s out of office. She has spent most of her time protesting projects that will get built anyway. She’s all flash, no substance, and ineffective as a representative.

  5. word, slopehead. i hope they put a 40 story jawn right where that mcd’s is.

    also, downtown bk needs to sieze the opportunity to grab manhattan office space overflow as downtown manhattan office space market has finally shaken the post 9-11 funk and now finds itself stymied by all those office building to resi conversions. strike while the iron is hot or else losing out to jersey city and LIC.

    build em high! build em often! make flatbush-x the phallus palice!

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