NEGATIVE DECLARATION
Project Identification Lead Agency
CEQR No. 17DCP186M City Planning Commission
ULURP No. N170441ZAM 120 Broadway, 31st Floor
SEQRA Classification: Type I New York, NY 10271
Contact: Robert Dobruskin
(212) 720-3423
Name, Description and Location of Proposal:
West Village Houses Parking Authorization
The Applicant, West Village Houses Housing Development Fund Corporation, is seeking a Zoning Authorization pursuant to Zoning Resolution (ZR) Section 13-443 (“Reduction in the number of required existing parking spaces”) to eliminate the parking requirement for an existing residential development (the “West Village Houses”), in connection with an existing garage located at 738-742 Greenwich Street (Block 633, Lot 24, the “Project Site”) in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan Community District 2. The Project Site, which is located on the southeast corner of the block bounded by West 11th, Greenwich, Perry, and Washington Streets, is also situated within the Greenwich Village Historic District, a NYC Landmark District as well as a State and National Register District. While no specific development is anticipated by the Applicant, at this time, the Proposed Action would facilitate future redevelopment of the Project Site (738-742 Greenwich Street).
The Project Site (Block 633, Lot 24) is currently occupied by a four-story parking garage containing 240 spaces, which provides required accessory parking spaces for the nearby West Village Houses development, a cooperative of 42 buildings with 428 apartments spread across six blocks west of Washington Street between Bank Street and Morton Street, constructed in the 1970s. According to the Applicant, the number of West Village Houses residents using the garage is lower than the required accessory parking spaces (168 required spaces). The remaining 72 parking spaces are used as public parking, as allowed within the Manhattan Core pursuant to ZR Section 13-07 (“Existing Buildings and Off-Street Parking Facilities”).
The Project Site is located within a C1-6A Zoning District, a contextual district which is equivalent to an R7A Zoning District. C1-6A districts permit residential and community facility Use Groups (UG) 1-4 and commercial UG 5-6. Retail uses are permitted a maximum Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 2.0., while residential uses are permitted an FAR of up to 4.0. Commercial uses in a mixed-use building are limited to the ground floor, limiting the commercial FAR to 1.0. Contextual height and setback regulations ensure that new development matches the scale of the surrounding buildings.
The proposed Zoning Authorization would provide greater flexibility for the repurposing or redevelopment of the Project Site. For the purpose of presenting a conservative analysis, an Environmental Assessment Statement (EAS) prepared in connection with the Proposed Action analyzes a future development scenario that assumes that the existing parking garage would be demolished and the Project Site would be redeveloped with a 44,000 gsf six-story mixed-use building. The development is assumed to contain approximately 11,000 gsf of retail space and 33,000 gsf of residential uses, with a total of 39 market-rate residential dwelling units.
Absent the proposed actions, the EAS assumed that the Project Site would remain the same as under the existing conditions.
The analysis year for the Proposed Action is 2020.
To avoid the potential for significant adverse impacts related to air quality and hazardous materials, an (E) designation has been incorporated into the proposed actions.