[sparkling]

Task force to vote 'no' on 1 Vanderbilt spire




BY JOE ANUTA
DECEMBER 9, 2014

The community board task force set to kick off the public review of developer SL Green's massive 1 Vanderbilt project across the street from Grand Central Terminal is expected to vote against the plan Tuesday evening due to two sticking points, sources involved with the project said.

A task force made up of members of Manhattan Community Boards 5 and 6 is set to vote against the developer's 65-story office tower planned for the corner of East 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue. The conditional thumbs-down would come unless SL Green agrees to move a large, public entrance to Grand Central and the new East Side Access terminal, and to change its goals for LEED certification, sources told Crain's.

City Councilman Daniel Garodnick, whose district includes the new spire, said he does not believe the task force's hang-ups are an indictment of the larger project, but they are nevertheless concerns he is taking seriously.
"This process provides a road map for how to get to the right outcome, and I certainly will take their views seriously," he said.
SL Green has said moving the 1.6 million-square-foot building's transit hall at the corner of East 43rd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue and changing LEED certification goals are not currently feasible.

"We have been working closely with the task force, understand the issues that have been raised and will continue our dialogue with the community as we advance toward approval," Robert Schiffer, managing director at SL Green, said in a statement.

The transit hall is part of a package of public benefits, which also include facelifts within Grand Central and increased entrances and exits to subways, valued at $210 million that the developer has pledged to include as part of the project.

Once the task force makes its resolution, SL Green's applications for three special permits will head to votes at both community boards separately later this week.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...nderbilt-spire