Professional employees of a "major East Side medical institution" will become the residents of the first building at Southtown, if negotiations between the developers and the institution succeed.  The disclosure was made by Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) President Robert Ryan last week in a meeting of the RIOC Board's Capital Planning and Development Committee.

As a result, a push is on to move the developers, Related and Hudson, to "final designation" status as chosen developer.  Ryan did not name the medical institution involved, but indicated there is time pressure because "they have to be in the ground by a certain time, or the deal's off...  and all this happened in the last few days." (On Wednesday night, RIRA President Patrick Stewart told Common Council members that he expects construction to begin "before Christmas.")

One consequence was a two-week postponement of September's RIOC Board meeting from Thursday (September 9) to Thursday, September 23.  Ryan hopes to have a positive vote by the Capital Planning and Development Committee in a September 14 meeting to pave the way for a formal "final designation" of Hudson/Related by the RIOC Board.

Ryan also told members of the committee that the derelict Nurses Residence will be razed in the first phase of Southtown construction, rather than in a later stage, as earlier envisioned.

Ryan said that final designation of Hudson/Related as Southtown developer is not final acceptance of the site plan or a design of the buildings.  He told the committee, however, that "most of the stuff that will be taking place [after final designation] will be having to do with engineering, construction schedules, stuff like that, and a lot of it is going to be done with our consultant...  It's going to be more of a technical process." He added, "The footprints of the buildings þ none of that's going to change."

Resident members of the Capital Planning and Development Committee raised several questions during the August 28 meeting, saying many details remain to be reduced to writing, but all expressed general support for the plan insofar as its particulars have been made known through presentations by Hudson/Related.  Ryan said the developers have agreed to "work with" RIOC on the question of construction traffic, but that no details had been worked out.

At Wednesday night's Residents Association meeting, Common Council member Jeff Hochman, who is also a member of the Capital Planning Committee, expressed concern that the plan means that the population of the first Southtown building will be essentially transient þ interns and others whose Island presence will typically be short-term, and that they are not likely to become invested in the Island community.  Other Council members voiced a worry that the pace of events might outstrip the RIRA Common Council's ability to negotiate with RIOC and the developer regarding design, construction traffic, pace of construction, population mix, "givebacks," and other matters of concern to the Island's current residents.

In related developments:

• The Capital Planning and Development Committee heard a report on a joint investigation of the effect, on existing views, of adding a second story to the minischools for the luxury condominiums proposed by developer Diane Wilson.  The study, done by RIRA President Patrick Stewart, RIOC engineer Vincent Kopicki, and Wilson, concluded that while "scores" of apartments would be affected, only "five or six" of tose visited would be affected to a "moderate or greater" degree.  An attorney for Wilson said some form of compensation might be considered for affected residents.

• The Capital Planning and Development Committee agreed to vote on its recommendation to the RIOC Board regarding the minicondo proposal on Tuesday, September 14.  This would position the RIOC Board to vote on the matter at its September 23 meeting.

• The RIRA Common Council heard that the Marriott hotel chain has now asked to become an investing partner in the twin-tower hotel proposed for Southpoint, rather than simply manager of the facility.

• The Council's legal committee reported it is near engaging a law firm to fight Southpoint development.  The Council voted to schedule a Town Meeting on Southpoint, and to raise funds for the legal work, for September 29.