Building Permit Drop Signals End to NYC Residential Boom

Also, New York DOB launches new online permit application process.

2009 Residential Permits Fall at “Alarming” Rate

The New York City Department of Buildings issued building permits for 576 residential units in 133 buildings citywide in January and February of 2009, 20 percent of the total reached for the same period in 2008, when permits were issued for 2,878 units in 344 buildings and 13 percent of the units that were permitted in January and February of 2007, when permits were issued for 4,476 units in 621 buildings throughout the five boroughs. This steep decline is partially explained by seasonal factors, regulatory changes and unique financial circumstances but the numbers also signal the end of a residential building boom in New York City.

“While the initial numbers for 2009 are alarming, it must be noted that this is a small sample size and the numbers can fluctuate considerably from month to month,” said the office of New York Building Congress President Richard T. Anderson. “The winter months are not traditionally the peak months for new permits, and we may still be feeling the effects of last year’s rush to accelerate projects prior to changes in the 421(a) tax incentive program. There also are signs that the credit squeeze is loosening, which could spur increased development in this low-interest rate environment.”

The Bronx and Queens were the most active boroughs for residential development to start the year with permits issued for 243 units in 56 buildings in Queens and 153 units in 32 buildings in The Bronx. Fifty-nine units were approved for construction in 28 separate buildings in Staten Island, where one to two-family homes predominate.

The biggest drop in potential housing starts were in Manhattan and Brooklyn with permits issued for 38 units in three Manhattan buildings in January and February compared to 1,220 units in 22 buildings in 2007 and 272 units in 9 buildings in 2008.

In Brooklyn, permits were issued for 83 units in 14 buildings in January and February compared to 1,309 units in 99 buildings in those same months last year and 886 units in 156 buildings in 2007.

These numbers could represent a significant geographic shift in residential construction given that Manhattan and Brooklyn ranked number one and two in annual residential building permits in all but one year since 2002.

“But even after taking these factors into account, the numbers do not bode well for the coming years,” said Anderson.

Annual construction could fall below 20,000 unites for the first time since 2002 if the current trends were to hold up. That would be more than a 40 percent drop from last year. And in a worst case scenario, numbers could drop as low as under 15,000 new units in 2009, a level that has not been seen since the mid-1990s.

NYCEDC Issues RFQs for First Willets Point Contracts

The New York City Economic Development Corporation has announced two separate Requests for Qualifications (RFQs) for firms to provide construction management and design services for the Willets Point Offsite Infrastructure Project; a $150 million project that will connect the 62-acre development site to existing transportation, water and sewage facilities helping to link Willets Point to its surrounding neighborhoods such as Flushing and Corona.

NYCEDC’s determination of which firms or individuals are qualified to perform the required services will be based on various factors expressed in response to RFQs such as, demonstrated experience and expertise in similar projects and services; personnel composition, resources and experience, familiarity with public approvals, permitting and experience working with multiple city agencies.

Once selected, the construction manager and design teams will work with the developer providing services during the preconstruction, construction, and post construction phases of a project whose primary components include, the installation of storm and waste water systems such as a new sanitary pump station, force main and water reclamation facility, design upgrades to sewer and outfall on 126th street; design for new connection ramps between the Van Wyck Expressway and Willets Point, as well as design for additional bicycle and pedestrian paths, improvements to the Roosevelt Bridge and other area connections, and the potential design of new entrance and exit ramps.

Construction of the pile restoration is scheduled to be completed by this summer but the pier will remain open to the public throughout because construction is taking place underwater. (Photo Courtesy of Method Media LLC)

The Willets Point Development Plan aims to transform the area known as the Iron Triangle, in which the city has acquired 61% of through negotiated agreements with landowners, into the city’s first ‘green’ neighborhood with 5,000 new housing units, parks, office space, retail, and a convention center and hotel, while creating 5,300 permanent jobs and 18,000 construction jobs.

Discussions with other landowners are ongoing and funding for a free training program through LaGuardia College for Willets Point workers currently underway has been provided by the city. Relocation assistance is also available to the area’s small businesses.

“The release today of these RFQs is another step forward in the journey to develop Willets Point,” said Queens Borough President Helen Marshall in a statement. “Offsite infrastructure will be integral as this project moves forward and incorporates itself in theoretical and practical ways with surrounding communities.”

Responses to the RFQs were due back May 8, 2009.

City to Rehab Aging Staten Island Pier

As part of their recent redevelopment of the Staten Island Ferry Terminals, New York City Economic Development Corporation recently decided that Staten Island’s 60+-year-old Saint George Fishing Pier required below deck timber pile rehabilitation/encasement due to years of extreme erosion.

The refurbishment and stabilization of the 845-ft-long pier is part of a larger renaissance of St. George’s wharf, pier, and bulkhead properties as well as a waterfront management and rehabilitation program developed by NYCEDC in direct response to the return of marine borers to New York Harbor and their devastating effect on many New York City waterfront structures that are supported by fast deteriorating timber piles.

NYCEDC’s construction manager Turner Construction hired Pennmax Engineering of Pound Ridge, New York to determine the scope of the restoration, as well as the most efficient solution to the erosion and to provide underwater inspection and bid documents for the repairs.

After assessing the encasement repairs required to prevent future deterioration and allow the public to fish on the shoreline that feeds into Upper New York Bay, Pennmax specified 121 20-ft stay-in-place, fiber-reinforced polymer pile jackets which would be filled with lightweight concrete. The piles are 30-in diameter, ¼-in thick and weigh 400 lbs each.

“The most critical performance spec was durability to extend the life-cycle integrity of the concrete,” said Pennmax’s principal owner John Pensiero. “We chose a stay-in place form to provide additional durability, protection, and economic efficiencies since no stripping was required. We also specified a [quarter-inch] form thickness to withstand ice/debris impact forces and prevent erosion of the concrete from tidal action.”

The $134 million new hospital in Hopewell, New Jersey will replace the 112-year-old Mercer Hospital in Trenton, New Jersey. (Photo courtesy of Skanska.)

Pennmax’s drawings for the project were approved by Turner Construction and NYCEDC. Turner Construction has since selected Trevcon Construction Company, Inc. of Liberty Corner, New Jersey to perform the underwater construction and Trevcon selected Molded Fiber Glass Construction Products of Independence, Kansas to meet the project specifications for the FPR pile forms.

Pier 1 will remain open to the public because construction of the pile restoration is taking place underwater. The project began in October 2008 and is scheduled for completion in summer 2009.

Skanksa to Build New Hospital in Hopewell, New Jersey for $134 Million

Skanska has been awarded a $134 million contract to construct a hospital in Hopewell, New Jersey that will replace the 112-year-old Mercer Hospital in Trenton, New Jersey for its customer, Capital Health.

Skanska is responsible for both pre-construction and construction plans and services and has already obtained $90 million which was included in order bookings last year at the rate and in the quarter in which the preconstruction services were provided.

The construction project includes approximately 297,000 sq ft in two buildings linked at the fl oor with a public atrium and lobby area. 237 beds will make up two-thirds of the project in the hospital section; the remainder being administration premises.

Skanska has also been contracted for a $117 million additional expansion of the hospital in which the remaining phases will be included in order bookings when the funding is in place.

Construction on the hospital began in August and is expected to be complete in October 2011.

Elementary School Breaks Ground in Waterbury, Conn.

The Gilmartin Elementary School Project in Waterbury, Connecticut recently broke ground with The Morganti Group, which also handled pre-construction, as construction manager.

“We’re absolutely thrilled this project is underway,” said Tim Gunn, Vice President of Operations for Morganti’s Northeast Regional Offices. “We’re committed to building a state-of-the-art school that Waterbury will be proud of.”

Construction will initially involve the removal and disposal of existing contaminated soil materials followed by the demolition of the existing 1960s-designed elementary school structure, attached portable classroom buildings, and parking lot where the new school will be constructed.

The new 76,000 sq ft Gilmartin Elementary School is scheduled to be completed by July 2010. (Rendering by Gaffney Bennett Public Relations)

The $25 million project was designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative, with O&G Industries serving as program manager, and will be constructed in a T-shape slightly altered to fit the site topography and will include a transparent main lobby serving as the intersection of the classroom, gymnasium, and cafeteria/performance wings. The classroom wing will have north/south facing windows while the gymnasium and cafeteria will be aligned toward the athletic fields and residential neighborhood and will be used by the community for after-school activities.

The new 76,000 sq ft school will seat 550 PreK-8 students and is scheduled to be completed by July 2010

Developer of TechCity Releases Green Master Plan

The owner of a former upstate industrial complex recently released a green master plan for the redevelopment of TechCity – once an IBM manufacturing and business campus.

The 260-acre, 2.5 million-sq-ft TechCity, located about 100 miles north of New York City in the town of Ulster, is made up of 27 low-rise buildings that will be transformed into a 21st Century sustainable development through the re-use of former industrial buildings, the installation of clean energy systems including solar panels and green roofs on the property’s existing large-area, flat roof buildings.

“We want to make TechCity into a national model for large-scale green development,” said Alan Ginsberg, Owner and Chairman of TechCity, upon announcing the plan. “Our plans include the extensive use of solar and other alternative forms of energy, and the attraction of companies that produce advanced green products and green collar jobs.”

The master plan is built around a “Town Center” design that recycles and modernizes the property’s former single-tenant/single-use buildings format, while preserving open space and natural areas and includes a system of sidewalks, landscaped spaces, covered parking and the use of new urbanism principles in the layout of a mixed use neighborhood retail and residential component of the plan.

The plan also calls for the selective demolition of obsolete buildings and the creation of a new set of internal roads designed to provide each remaining building with a new image, access to convenient parking and a “front door” address reducing the building gross floor area to just under 2 million sq ft.

The town of Ulster is currently the lead agency for TechCity’s State Environmental Quality Review process and has also agreed to an expedited approval process for better build-outs making TechCity a The new 76,000 sq ft Gilmartin Elementary School is scheduled to be completed by July 2010. Rendering by Gaffney Bennett Public Relations

The TechCity Master Plan will transform the 260-acre, 2.5 million-sq-ft former IBM manufacturing and business campus made up of 27 low-rise buildings into a 21st Century sustainable development. (Photo courtesy of Linden Alschuler & Kaplan, Inc.)

So far, TechCity has shut down the site’s outmoded, oil-burning central utility plant which had annually emitted 100 tons of airborne pollutants when Mr. Ginsberg purchased the campus from IBM in 1998. The central plant is being replaced by individual, very low emission, gas-fi red rooftop units in occupied buildings. TechCity has also taken steps to reduce its consumption of electricity from the region’s power grid by cutting back from 9.1 million kilowatt hours (kWh) to 5.8 million kWh in 2008- a 36 percent reduction made possible by energy efficiencies, producing enough solar power on site to be completely self-sufficient.

Demolition on the site of approximately 500,000 sq ft began in March and the construction will take place in phases. The first phase timetable will depend on whether the developer receives $8.5 million in “shovel ready” stimulus funding in which it is being considered for by New York State.

The plan is expected to create – with a focus on creating 2,200 construction jobs and 3,860 permanent new industrial, manufacturing, educational, and retail positions.

NYC DOB Launches Online Permit Program

Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri recently announced the launch of eSubmit, a new program that allows building permit applicants to electronically submit certain documents from their home or office in order to cut the wait time.

Each year, the Buildings Department receives approximately 60,000 documents also known as “required items” associated with permit applications and with the new eSubmit program, these documents will be stored online so that applicants can fulfill requirements by submitting more than 200 required items and supporting documents online, and New Yorkers can easily access critical information about construction projects planned for their neighborhoods.

“Making construction operations more transparent is one of our top priorities. This new program will make thousands of construction documents available online, as well as increase the efficiency of the permit application process,” said LiMandri. “Access to this information will make it easier for applicants and New Yorkers to monitor construction projects across the five boroughs.”

The DOB will review documents submitted by applicants for accuracy and completion. Once the documents are approved or disapproved, applicants will be notified via email and approved documents will become part of the permit application and will be made available in BISWeb, the DOB’s online property database. Documents associated with demolition permit applications or that require technical review must still be submitted in person at the Buildings Department.

The program builds upon the Buildings Department online document management system known as B-SCAN, which allows staff to electronically scan documents so that they are easily accessible to applicants and the public.

NYC Seeks Firm to Lease and Operate Portion of Manhattan’s East River Waterfront

New York City Economic Development Corporation is putting out feelers in an attempt to find a firm to lease and operate the Maiden Lane South Pavilion in Lower Manhattan.

The Maiden Lane South Pavilion will be the first of several pavilions built as part of the city’s East River Waterfront Esplanade and Piers Project, whose goal is to transform the underutilized portions of East River waterfront, from the Maritime Building to East River Park, into pedestrian-friendly, publicly accessible open space that will enhance the community’s waterfront experience.

The Esplanade was originally developed as part of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “Vision for Lower Manhattan,” first released in 2002. Its plan was designed by a team of consultants who worked closely with the EDC, the Department of City Planning, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, local elected officials and the Lower Manhattan community. The effort has been funded by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant program and the Federal Highway Administration.

Programming suggestions for the Maiden Lane South Pavilion include a food service or a recreation facility, but other creative programming concepts that meet the project’s goals will be considered. Individuals and companies may propose to use up to 4,500 sq ft of enclosed pavilion space and up to 2,700 sq ft of optional outdoor space. The EDC will construct the core and shell of the Maiden Lane South Pavilion which is expected to be ready for tenant occupancy and fit-out by spring 2011.

“Providing New Yorkers and visitors with enhanced access to our waterfront has long been a priority for this Administration,” said NYCEDC President Seth W. Pinsky in a statement. “As part of the new East River Esplanade Project, the Maiden Lane South Pavilion will help deliver on the promise of Lower Manhattan’s waterfront, transforming this underused segment of our waterfront into a vibrant and inviting public open space that will draw residents and visitors alike to this great natural resource.”

Responses to the RFEI are due by June 5, 2009.

DIA/WRKS Designs Administrative Offices for NYIT

New York-based architects DIA/WRKS, have been chosen to design the administrative offices of New York Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture and Design. “DIA/WRKS was perfect for this project because of their fl air for design and ability to maximize space and natural light while simultaneously reflecting my streamlined, contemporary and eccentric sensibilities,” said Judith DiMaio, dean of NYIT’s architecture and design department.

Expanding by 1,000 ft, the 2,500-sq-ft dean’s office is slated for completion this fall.

The centerpiece of the project will be Di-Maio’s office, which will be expanded by an additional 1,000 sq ft while the rest of the offices will be reconfigured. The offices are all located in the Education Hall, a building that was formerly known as Vanderbilt Whitney Estate’s polo stables with loft-like studio classrooms on the top level and the administrative offices on the bottom level. The design team will create a sleek, modern, and elegant space, taking its cues from the architectural details that remain intact while contrasting it with clean understated surfaces and straightforward angles.

The 2,500-sq-ft space includes original furniture pieces by design icons Le Corbusier and Marcel Breuer, a rustic brick fireplace, white marble mantles, 16-foot Milan red sliding doors and clerestory windows.

“The new Education Hall will explore the dialogue between soft and hard textures, old and new, light versus dark, as an indication of 19 New York Construction 7/2009 evolution,” said Asha Cazazian, one of the principals with DIA/WRKS.

The project is slated to begin in May and completed by fall.