Praying for the Variance Gods at 205 Water Street

After a almost a year of chipping away at the former three-story warehouse at 205 Water Street, the plywood fences came down last week and the waiting game began. Waiting for what? The owners of this lot, HK Management, along with many other developers in Dumbo, are hoping that their pleas for a residential rezoning in the wake of the recent landmarking will fall on receptive ears at the Department of City Planning. (The developer has already alienated neighborhood residents, who say that the demolition procedure failed to adequately deal with the dispersion of asbestos into the air.) Under the current zoning, a 42,000-square-foot building could be built, but it’s anyone’s guess whether rezoning the area for residential would include an increase in FAR. None of this is going to happen tomorrow though: According to DCP, the agency is just starting to look at the issue and is “months away from being able to begin the public review process.” Since ULURP can take up to seven months, a DCP spokesperson told us it’s unlikely any rezoning would happen within the next year, if it happens at all. GMAP P*Shark DOB