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January 16 - January 29, 2014
Franklin St. developer pushes back deal’s closing B Y SA M S P O K O N Y The developer who proposed a new luxury building on a parking lot in a landmarked Tribeca district is delaying his purchase of that site, according to the lot’s current owner. DDG, led by Joe McMillan, publicly pitched its plan for an eight-story building at the 100 Franklin St. site last fall — drawing ire from local preservationists — and in November the developer went before the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission to seek approval to build on the landmarked lot. The commission’s decision is still pending. It was previously thought that DDG’s purchase of the lot — unconfirmed rumors put the sale price around $9.5 million — would be completed by the end of 2013, although McMillan had been extremely tight-lipped about the deal. “I don’t want a bunch of people coming to my office to protest on the closing date,” McMillan, the firm’s C.E.O., told Downtown Express after presenting the plans at a Community Board 1 meeting in November.
Image courtesy of DDG Partners
A rendering of the building proposed for 100 Franklin St.
But Peter Matera, the current owner of the 100 Franklin St. lot, said this week that not only was the deal not completed
before the end of the year, but that DDG recently asked him for more time before setting a closing date.
“They didn’t express any interest in walking away from the deal, as far as I know, but they wanted to delay the closing date for a few more weeks,” Matera said in a Jan. 6 phone interview. He explained that DDG didn’t tell him why they are continuing to push back the purchase date. The developer declined to comment on the deal. Meanwhile, DDG is currently facing problems with its plans to build a 12-story residential building at 12-14 Warren St. The Real Deal recently reported that the developer filed a Dec. 24 lawsuit against the condominium board of the neighboring residential building at 16 Warren St. — known as Tribeca Townhomes — because they reportedly failed to honor a $1.1 million agreement to give DDG access to the adjacent development site. DDG had previously acquired the air rights to 12-14 Warren St. from Tribeca Townhomes, and had reportedly been in talks to access the site for more than a year before the last-minute refusal.
Powerful come out to celebrate Chin’s second term
Downtown Express photo by Sam Spokony.
Councilmember Chin raised her hand with Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito, right, at Chin’s swearing in ceremony Jan. 5. At left is Councilmember Brad Lander and Borough President Gale Brewer.
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BY SAM SPOKONY After winning a tough re-election campaign against a much younger opponent with little political experience, Councilmember Margaret Chin showed off her own strong political ties as she entered a second term at an inauguration ceremony Jan. 5. Chin, who defeated Jenifer Rajkumar by 17 points in the Democratic primary and then ran unopposed in the general election, celebrated her second swearingin alongside key figures in the city’s new administration, other councilmembers as well as local, state and federal officials at P.S. 130 in Chinatown. City Councilmember Melissa MarkViverito attended, and Chin proudly said “she’s my choice for speaker.” Three days later, Mark-Viverito was unanimosly elected to the leadership spot. Newly elected Public Advocate Letitia James and Comptroller Scott Stringer — who’d worked closely with Chin in their previous roles as Councilmember and Manhattan Borough President, respectively — led the event off with strong words of support for Chin, and their sentiments were later joined by an appearance from Emma Wolfe, the newly appointed director of intergovernmental affairs for Mayor Bill de Blasio. “She’s a powerhouse, and that’s why I love her dearly,” said James. In other remarks at the event, Chin was also praised — always professionally, but sometimes on a deeply personal level — by Sen. Chuck Schumer, House Representatives Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney, State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Sil-
ver, Borough President Gale Brewer, and State Sen. Daniel Squadron. “What we can say about Margaret is this: No one put a silver spoon in her mouth, and no one plucked her up and put her into high office,” said Schumer, who, among other things, would go on describe Chin as a “tiger” when it came to her persistence in securing disaster recovery aid after Hurricane Sandy. “Margaret, you have earned all this,” Schumer declared. In her own remarks after being sworn in ceremonially Jan.5, Chin proclaimed her support for de Blasio’s universal preK plan — although its accompanying tax hike may now have trouble getting the green light from Governor Cuomo — as well as pledging to create more affordable housing and also to continue pressuring the city to deal with public school overcrowding issues Downtown. “We have to build more schools so that our children will not have to be on a waiting list for kindergarten,” said Chin. Since the inauguration took place at P.S. 130, on Baxter St., Chin noted that she had, in many ways, come full circle in her career. A half-century ago, she attended that same school as a young girl. “And now here I am, at P.S. 130, where I first learned English and graduated in 1965,” she said. “I truly could not have imagined then that I would someday be lucky enough to represent this district that I love.” The event was one of six ceremonial inaugurations Chin planned after her November reelection.