JDS's LES Skyscraper Halted Pending Lawsuit Over Adjacent Site

The lawsuit pertains to the former Pathmark pharmacy site at 235 Cherry Street

JDS’s plans to bring a 983-foot skyscraper to the Lower East Side, close to Extell’s One Manhattan Square, have temporarily been put on hold until a lawsuit surrounding a nearby site is settled. The Department of City Planning wrote a letter to JDS chief Michael Stern saying the project would not be able to move forward until warring parties had come to an agreement over the sale of an adjacent property, Crain’s reports.

Developers Gary Spindler and Roy Schoenberg were looking to buy the property at 235 Cherry Street from the Settlement Housing Fund and the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council. However the latter two parties decided to back out of that deal and instead separately sell air rights from that property to JDS. Those extra rights will allow JDS to build its 500,000 square foot tower.

Spindler and Schoenberg however sued Settlement Housing and the Neighborhood Council over the deal, and are now awaiting the outcome of that lawsuit. The developers contend that they can’t move forward with their plans to bring a 300,000 square foot mixed-use project at the site without those rights.

JDS’s tower will be located at 247 Cherry Street, which is essentially the Cherry Street facing portion of the existing senior center at 80 Rutgers Slip. JDS plans to build its tower abutting the senior building and partially cantilever over the single-story property at 235 Cherry Street, that was once home to a Pathmark pharmacy. It’s not exactly clear yet how the lawsuit will affect JDS if the ruling is in favor of Spindler and Schoenberg.

Discussions between JDS and City Planning over its tower are still ongoing, and a spokesperson for the development firm issued the following statement to Curbed:

"We are working to clear up any questions and are confident both that the application will move forward consistent with DCP procedures and that the pending litigation will be resolved in our favor."

• Proposed 1,000-foot-tall apartment tower in lower Manhattan put on hold [Crain’s]
• JDS's 77-Story Lower East Side Tower May Reach Supertall Status [Curbed]
• JDS Unveils Plans For a Gigantic 77-Story Lower East Side Tower [Curbed]

from
http://ny.curbed.com/2016/7/6/12109968/jds-lower-east-side-skyscraper-lawsuit