Riverside Park Development Proposed For Brooklyn

[Riverrat]

Wait - am I seeing this correctly? "Carriage Houses" will dot Riverside Avenue to shield Riverside Avenue from the parking lot? Wake up! This is supposed to be / should be an urban neighborhood that connects Riverside to Downtown...this could be one of the coolest locations in the city...it has the potential to be a great "Midtown" in Atlanta...or West End in Nashville...but instead, here's what has happened / is happening: LaVilla.

So, first, the Fidelity building goes in and has parking lots facing the street. Then, that weird Alfred duPont building goes in with its weird little winding road. Then, almost every single corner lot on Forest, between 95 & Riverside Ave. has been converted to a parking lot, retention pond, or culdesac...NOW we're adding in carriage houses?! And I recall reading somewhere of the possibility of a Courtyard Marriott going in to one of these projects? Seriously? Courtyard Marriott? There isn't a chain more "office park" related than Courtyard Marriott. Seriously, I'm waiting to read the "Brooklyn Frankenstein" story.

Suburbia doesn't work in what should be an urban neighborhood!

[JFman00]

Wait - am I seeing this correctly? "Carriage Houses" will dot Riverside Avenue to shield Riverside Avenue from the parking lot? Wake up! This is supposed to be / should be an urban neighborhood that connects Riverside to Downtown...this could be one of the coolest locations in the city...it has the potential to be a great "Midtown" in Atlanta...or West End in Nashville...but instead, here's what has happened / is happening: LaVilla.

So, first, the Fidelity building goes in and has parking lots facing the street. Then, that weird Alfred duPont building goes in with its weird little winding road. Then, almost every single corner lot on Forest, between 95 & Riverside Ave. has been converted to a parking lot, retention pond, or culdesac...NOW we're adding in carriage houses?! And I recall reading somewhere of the possibility of a Courtyard Marriott going in to one of these projects? Seriously? Courtyard Marriott? There isn't a chain more "office park" related than Courtyard Marriott. Seriously, I'm waiting to read the "Brooklyn Frankenstein" story.

Suburbia doesn't work in what should be an urban neighborhood!

I'm curious what impact city-mandated parking requirements had on the development, if any.

[Riverrat]

A garage somewhere (the middle?) or parking in the middle (similar to the Springfield building where Uptown Market is located) is the answer here. NOT Carriage Houses. The larger portion of the development needs to be up to the street here.

[tufsu1]

A garage somewhere (the middle?) or parking in the middle (similar to the Springfield building where Uptown Market is located) is the answer here. NOT Carriage Houses. The larger portion of the development needs to be up to the street here.

there is no problem with having shorter buildings close to the street as long as they aren't set back much....in fact, cities like San Diego and Vancouver mandate that condo towers step back, so that at the street they appear to only be about 3 stories high (perfect for pedestrians).

as for the garage, sure that would be great....but at $20,000+ per space, that would add almost 10 million to the cost of teh project....perhaps it doesn't fit the pro forma.

[JaxArchitect]

The new plan is a slight improvement but they really need to rethink the overall layout.  As many have already indicated, they need to put more priority on placing the buildings along the primary street edges.
I think the overall development plan makes sense, will be a great benefit to this neighborhood, and they don't need to burden the development with the cost of a parking structure.  They just need to rework the plan to address the streets in a more appropriate manner.
I think their strategy of starting at the Park St side of the property (with residential only) is interesting because it would allow the development to fill in with residents prior to building the commercial space that will be necessary along Riverside, providing the necessary built-in customers.  That's kind of smart IMO.

[Tacachale]

It was a mistake to approve the design as it was. At any rate, new units in the CBD are new units in the CBD so it's a net gain.

[Ocklawaha]

Maybe you should visit more places.

Whether I been to alotta places or not doesn't matter, MJ is destined to micromanage this Brooklyn development like a drill sergeant. This is Brooklyn in Jax not in NY. I'm no genius when it comes to architechure, but I know a lil' about it. This development looks like a good thing for Brooklyn. Beggars can't be choosy here, it looks decent to me. Maybe a couple of coffee joints, alotta parasols, and yuppies/hipsters throughout the complex will make up for the 'supposed' shortcomings. Atleast wait until the thing gets builted become bashing it already.

No one at MJ is bashing or micromanaging these projects. MJ is the city's only alternative voice for 'new urbanism,' 'sustainability,' and 'pedestrian scale development' as well as 'fixed route mass transit.' The fact that you attack any discussion where serious dialog is taking place  with a tirade of incredibly constructed prose speaks volumes.

Otherwise let the discussions among planners and concerned residents continue.

[duvaldude08]

I wonder when construction will start. I see they requested a permit a few weeks back. It was for something infrastrcture related. Atleast its moving foward.

[tufsu1]

from what I hear next month

[thelakelander]

Riverside Park or 200 Riverside?