65th Street Corridor Vision Plan

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Street Corridor Vision Plan Zoning and Land-Use Subcommittee Community Board 10, Brooklyn Prepared by: Anish Pendharkar

CONTENTS

Introduction Features of the district Features of the corridor Comments from Planning Charrette Current Zoning map Zoning Option 1 Zoning Option 2 Zoning Option 3

65th street in Community District 10, Brooklyn is a ‘100 ft Wide’ street connected to Gowanus Expressway. Area surrounding the street has been seeing a lot of development projects lately, as well as demands for zoning text changes. To avoid piecemeal developments, and to develop a holistic growth vision for the area, Community Board 10 envisioned this project.

At present, the stretch from 6th Aveneue upto Fort Hamilton Parkway is zoned as M1-1, primarily for light manufacturing uses, whereas several kind of other uses are allowed as-of-right. This report suggests some rezoning options for the corridor, which would transform the area from a light manufacturing district with industrial aesthetics to a lively, mixed use district.

INTRODUCTION Recent development interest in the area has resulted in piecemeal projects with a hotchpotch of uses that compromise pedestrian safety, and negative impacts on visual coherence. Last year, CB10 identified two areas in the district with greatest development potential. Located at the intersection of three districts (CB10, CB7, CB12), the 65th Street corridor is one of the primary area of interest.

65th street is one of the designated truck routes in Brooklyn, and a major connection to Gowanus Expressway. This is also why it has historically been the site of many Gasoline stations and aurooriented services like garges and repair shops.

CB 10’s light manufacturing district is located between65th street and the N subway line.

The decline of manufacturing uses, paired with rising land costs in the city has led to many conversions of gas stations and industrial properties to other more lucrative commercial uses like retail and office space.

As such, a more comprehensive 65th street corridor Vision plan will require a more holistic examination of the area that considers existing conditions and the various needs of CB10. The Vision plan will aim to in develop a responsible planning framework that anticipates growth in the area. For instance, Brooklyn’s population is expected to grow at a pace of 11% from 20102040. Developers have started recognizing the demand for new housing and multiple new projects are already proposed in the corridor.

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65th Street Corridor & Larger Study area

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65th Street Corridor &

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FEATURES OF THE DISTRICT

More than 20% of the population of District 10 is 65 years or older.

Only 46 permits were issued for new construction in 2018

On the other hand,Brooklyn’s population is expected to grow 11% in the next three decades. New units for seniors as well as for the incoming population are needed.

The need for better infrastrucutre is evident in the corridor, as sidewalks remain overcrowded at all times of the day.

This could be a result of additional zoning regulations of Bay Ridge Special District, which restrcits the potential for new development. The only district issuing lesser permits was Morningside Heights, another historic landmark district. However, the lack of new housing in the area is imapcting especially the lower income households, 55% of which are severely rent-burdended.

70% of the commuters took public transport to work in 2018

60% of the total population lives within walking distance of a park

Especially the 65th street corridor has two subway stations, with most of the area within walking distance. Recently, a new entrance to the 8 Av station was opened.

Major development proposals are proposed right next to transit stations.

Leif Ericson parkway is the only major park close to the 65th street corridor. Planning for growth would give more people access to the park, however streetscape improvements are needed, to improve access to the park, which is currently surrounded by car parks.

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FEATURES OF THE CORRIDOR

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National Grid Site. Half of it is currently being used a sBaseball field. Not an active site, with a small building but heavy infrastrucutre.

3 Guys from Brooklyn, Rite Aid across the street are some major shops frequented by the locals

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8 Av and 65th street is busiest intersection on the corridor, due to major businesses like Maimonides Cancer Institute as well as Fei Long Supermarket. The highest building of 6 story high is at this intersection as well.

Mainmonides Rehabilitation center, Happy Island Senior center and Design Depot. A mi of community facilities with light manufacturing.

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Banquet Halls for rent, Hot-Pot restaurants and Offices are some of the diverese set of businesses found in 1 block

64th street also features multiple housing types and a PS round the corner

Most of corner blocks, whcih were previously gasoline stations are now cleared up for new construction.

COMMENTS FROM THE PLANNING CHARETTE

Development expected

Development expected 7th Avenue

Sidewalks are over The current manuf and auto-shops at street, make the st look dull.

New development expected, zoning text change

65th Street

Area before 7th Avenue, because of a steep slope and connection to the expressway, feels different in character than rest of the street, and should be treated differently than rest of the corridor.

Preferably 6-8 high story buildings, if they satisfy the demand for space and other requirements, would be preferred. The buildings shouldn’t feel too towering form the street. Board memebers liked a staggered building form from the NYC Zoning Handbook.

r-crowded. facturing 65th treetscape

O n g o i n g Construction

Development expected

O n g o i n g Construction

Fort Hamilton

Buildings should gradually decrease in height, coming towards the Fort Hmailton Parkway, as the areas beyond that are completely residential

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Access to the Leif Ericson park is difficult fom the street. Future residents should have an easier access to the park.

The sidewalks and fencing at National Grid Site should be better maintained than it current state.

Cars speed up after Fort hamilton Parkway signal, due to less intermixed traffic in predominantly residential area.

CURRENT ZONING

Blocks east of 7th Av have gasoline station and vehicle dealerships, due to adjacency to the highway. Mostly manufacturing related land-uses.

Current Zoning M1-1 Manufacturing FAR: 1.0 Community facility FAR: 2.40 Parking allowed: 1 per 300 sf Most commercial uses and certain community uses are allowed asof-right. Residential uses are not permitted.

The 2nd block between 7th and 8th Ave, has the most diverse land-uses. Proximity to supermarket, subway and hospital, make it a good location for businesses looking for foot traffic.

Current Zoning: R5B Attached houses with R5B zoning

Though most of the corridor is zoned for light manufacturing uses, anchor institutions, good pedestrain activity reslting from them, as well as subway access has led many different kinds of businesses to locate here.

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Type of Zoning

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The stretch between 8th and 9th Ave, with the Nationl grid site across street, makes it suitable to park loading vehicles. It has uses ranging from furniture shops to restaurants.

Residential uses start from the Fort Hamilton Parkway.

Location of grocery stores, pharmacy and proximity to subway station and park make it a good location for additional housing.

Parking Contextual Requirement district

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Current Zoning: R6B with C2-4 overlay.

Current Zoning: R5B Attached houses with R5B zoning

Zoning Option 1

Commercial building

The first zoning option aims to create a mixed-use district, with three kinds of zones along the 65th street. The idea is to maintain consistency of land-uses and visual coherence along the street.

Starting from 6th Avenue, the street would transition from a more industrial building type to a mixed use commercial type, while ending as a 4 to 5 story residential built form with street retail on the Fort Hamilton Parkway.

Incentive zoning tool for Mixed Commercial- Industrial buildings Proposed in Industrial areas of North Williamsburg.

Current zoning of the area is M1-2. As an incentive to preserve manufacturing uses within the now hot areas, for every square feet of space for induatrial use in the building, he developer would be awarded 2.5 sq ft. of additional space for office or light industrial uses.

The eight-story, 480,000-square-foot office building at 25 Kent Avenue would be a model for these kinds of projects.

Mixed Industrial-Commercial district Original: M1-1

Proposed: M1-2 with incentive zoning

As discussed in the charette, the short section of 65th street before 7th avenue, with its steep slope of road and heavy vehicular traffic coming from the expressway is best suitable for a more industrial type use. The incentive zoning recently proposed in Industry city, can be used to preserve the current businesses on the block, while simultaneously increasing density for commercial uses, alike rest of the corridor.

Mixed Use buildings: C Original: M1-1

Blocks from 7th Avenue to Fort with any of the above C4 zonin buildings of maximum 6 to 8 flo upper floors setback from the s provide a nice balance between built form of rest of the district

Commercial & Residential building

C4 District C4 Districts are mapped in regional centers located outside of central business districts where specialty and department stores, theaters and once uses serve a larger region than neighborhood shopping areas. In general, the higher the numeric suffix is, the higher the permitted density and the lower the commercial parking requirement.areas.

Bulk Regulations Bulk regulations in mixed-use buildings apply differently to commercial and residential portions of the building. A non-contextual zoning type could result in either a staggered building form, (if a height factor regulation is opted for by the developer) or a form similar to contextual zoning (if Quality Housing regulations are chosen).

Commercial and Residential Proposed: C4-2A/3A /4A/5A

t Hamilton parkway, may be zoned ng types. The zoning would result in oors (including the MIH units), with street wall. The built form would n high-rise buildings and a low-height t.

Existing Residential district with Commercial Overlay R5B, R6B with C2-3 Overlay Block after Fort Hamilton Parkway is consistent with rest of the street in both directions, and may retain its current zoning. There are a couple of projects under construction already, such as on the 64th and Fort Hamilton corner, which would equalize the heights of all residential units on the blocks in the future.

Rendering on the right shows 8-9 story buildings on 65th street. It should be noted that the size of the individual lot would determine how much FAR can be utilized provided the building heights and open space requirements. Such high density is only possible if each lot has a practical footprint to support an 8 story building.

Pictures show the C4-2A district in the southern tip of CD10, at 86th street BID. The contextual zoning provides for a continuous street line, albeit with differing heights, and a different mix of retail and residential uses. New construction such as at the corner of 86th street and Fort Hamilton Parkway utilizes maximum FAR, resulting in 6 story high apartments with groundfloor retail.

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Zoning Option 2 The current manufacturing zone is surrounded by residential uses on 3 sides. Morever, several lots in M1 zoning are also used for Residential purposes. This option proposes designating lots east of 7th avenue as R5B, resulting in a continuous residential zone, alongwith continuation of commercial overlays on every avenue, for e.g. C2-4 and C1-3 on 8th avenue. The R6B zone on Fort Hamilton parkway is also extended to the blocks touching 65th street.

Several lots facing 64th street are residential uses, and residential district further extends till 62nd street. The PS96 at a walking distance nearby, also makes the area suitable for residential use.

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R6 and R6B districts Height Factor

Quality Housing with MIH

Quality Housing

R6 and R6B districts R6-R10 are classified as medium and high-density residential districts. They are found usually near to the mass transit and result in a variety of building forms and types.

Bulk regulations for R6B or R6 districts using a Quality Housing regulation are required to locate a street wall, which is decided based on the existing surrounding buildings.

New construction under R6B regulations

New construction R6B under R6B regulations envelope

R6B contextual districts, created in 1987, are medium density districts designed to reÂŞect the character and scale of old rowhouse neighborhoods, particularly those Brooklyn neighborhoods lined with brownstone buildings.

Any new buildings constructed must be Quality Housing buildings and building heights generally range from four to five stories.

Mixed Industrial-Commercial district Original: M1-1

Proposed: M1-2 with incentive zoning

Same as the previous option, a more intensive manufacturing zoning with incentives for commercial FAR are proposed for this section.

Medium Density residential district Original: M1-1

The zoning results in 6 to 8 stor woithout contextual zoning or n improvements would help to co suit all pedestrain activity in the

Places with R6 designation

R6A designation in 5th Avenue at 60th street in Brooklyn. The commercial overlay allows the retail for neighborhood needs and new buildings constructed to follow quality housing requirements and thus abutt the streets.

t with Commercial Overlays along the avenues Proposed: R6 R6A/R6B

ry residential buildings, with or need for quality housing units. Street ontrol the mixed traffic, in a way to e future.

R6 Zoning within transit zone: Newly constructed condominium building at 60th street 9th Avenue, Brooklyn.

Existing Residential district with Commercial Overlay R5B, R6B with C2-3 Overlay

Block after Fort Hamilton Parkway is consistent with rest of the street in both directions, and may retain its current zoning, and now will be visually similar to the blocks across the Fort Hamilton Parway as well.

Zoning Option 3 This zoning option proposes a change in zoning type of all lots from 6th avaenue to 9th avenue, from M1-1 type to C8-3/4.

This designation is generally used for arterial roads, where auto-oriented services have developed over time. A change from M1-1, would allow every use currently present on the street, including gasoline stations and auto-repair shop, except manufacturing uses. In addition, the community facility FAR is increased upto 2 times, which could allow for a bigger institution like a school.

Various auto-related services are present on the 65th strret corridor, alongeith furniture stores and other wholesalers

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C8 districts C8 Districts, which bridge commercial and manufacturing uses, provide for automotive and other heavy commercial services that often require large amounts of land. They are mapped mainly along major traffic arteries where concentrations of automotive uses have developed.

All C8 zones are original to 1961 resolution. Since 65th street is a designated truck route and is adjacent to major highways, C8 zoning complements the existing businesses, the majority of which are auto-related.

New Construction under C8-3 regulations

New Construction under C8-1 regulations

Bayridge Toyota showroom at 90th street and 6th Avenue in CD10. The mix of uses is similar to that of 65th street.

Higher zoning groups allow for a greater community FAR, allowing for bigger institutions like the Anglo Patri school in Bronx (C8-3 district).

Source: Illustration from Zoning Handbook 2018, pg143

Mixed Use buildings: Commercial and Community Facility Uses Original: M1-1

Proposed: C8-3 C8-4

The figures above show that while the zoning auto-oriented low density, low rise businesse facilities. This would especially help in locatin future, and decreasing some of the school se

Places with C-8 designation

g would preserve the blocks for es, it also allows high rise community ng a day-care center or a school in eat deficit in the three districts.

65TH STREET IN THE FUTURE

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Fort Hamilton Parkway

On the left is a possible built form in the future based on the Zoning Option 2.

The contextual commercial zoning would produce a staggered building form, which would be 1 or 2 story high on the street side, maintaining a comfortable human scale in the built form, as most parts of District 10.

Transitioning from a industrial street to a mixed use, lively and walkable street would require simulatneous improvements in the streetscape such as traffic calming measures, street tree plantations etc. As discussed in the charette, better ways of connecting the street to the Leif Ericson Parkway can be explored, one of the ways, as discussed then and shown in the figure, could be a walkway running across the inactive National Grid Site.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Cover Page Backgroung Image | Source: Google Earth Page 2 Foreword Image | Picture by Michael Devigne Page 3 Introduction Map | Source: NYC district and road shapefiles, NYC Open data Image | Picture by Author Page 4 Map of Corridor and larger area Map | Source: Tax Lot and Building Shapefiles, NYC Open data Page 5 Features of the district Images | Pictures by Author Data | All data from NYU Furman Centre district profiles Icon| Elderly man, Created by Brad Avison for the Noun Project Icon| Under construction Building, Created by Brad Avison for the Noun Project Icon| Subway, Created by Brad Avison for the Noun Project Icon| Walking man, Created by Brad Avison for the Noun Project Icon| Park, Created by Brad Avison for the Noun Project Page 6 Satellite Map of Corridor and larger area BaseMap | Source: Google Earth Imagery Page 7 Features of the Corridor Images | Author Model | Created in SketchUp Online Page 9 Comments from Planning Charette BaseMap | Google Earth Imagery Page 11 Current Zoning Zoning Map | NYC Zoning Map, shapefiles, NYC Open Data Images | Author Page 13-14 Zoning Option 1 Building Models (Top) | Coutesy of NYC Zoning Handbook 2018 Images | 25 Kent, from newyorkimby.com Models showing zoning outputs | Created in SketchUp Page 15-16 Zoning Option 1 Models showing zoning outputs | Created in SketchUp Images | From Google Maps Street Imagery

Pages 17-18 Zoning Option 2 Images | Author BaseMap | Google Earth Street Imagery Pages 19-20 Zoning Option 2 Building Models (Top) | Coutesy of NYC Zoning Handbook 2018 Models showing zoning outputs | Created in SketchUp Images | Google Earth Street Imagery Pages 21-22 Zoning Option 3 Images | Author BaseMap | Google Earth Street Imagery Pages 23-24 Zoning Option 3 Building Models (Top) | Coutesy of NYC Zoning Handbook 2018 Models showing zoning outputs | Created in SketchUp Images | Google Earth Street Imagery Pages 25-26 65th Street in the future Model | Created using SketchUp