by Dick Lutz

The RIOC Board gave a go-ahead to the Octagon Apartments project last week - sort of.

In three resolutions containing exceptions and caveats, the Board said no to the idea of underground parking beneath the Octagon tennis courts, but said OK to on-site parking under the building. It said OK to a change from 500 to 511 apartments. It permitted a change in the lower-rent portion of the building, changing it from a plan for low-income residents to one targeted at medium-income families.

Perhaps most significantly, the one-page resolution titled "Approval of Plan and Project and Design Guidelines" suggests there may be a wariness over the 2002 Open Spaces law specific to Roosevelt Island. This is the language of the resolution, with emphasis added:

"The Plan and Project... are hereby approved subject to the following conditions: (i) the premises to be leased shall not include the park facilities or the tennis courts; (ii) all project parking shall be confined to the leased premises; and (iii) prior to the effectiveness of any lease for the project, RIOC shall have received all of the required approvals from the Comptroller and Attorney General of the State of New York and all required consents of the legislature of the State of New York to the project substantially as approved by RIOC."

In its Monday meeting, the Board spent an hour in executive session, then passed its resolutions in three quick votes, with no explanations offered. (Two other resolutions declared any environmental impact to be insignificant, and extended site control to provide more time "to resolve certain open issues.")

Parking

After the RIOC Board meeting, resident Board member David Kraut told The WIRE, "The tennis court parking is out." But because a portion of the financing Becker and Becker lined up for the project depends upon on-site parking, and because the resolutions provide for temporary courts, the eventual fate of the under-court parking may be yet to be determined. Likewise, the plan for temporary courts could be altered by a further Board resolution.

If no further Board action changes last week's decision to eliminate under-court parking, on-site parking would be limited to the area under the 13-story apartment wings that will extend outward from the Octgagon landmark.

The Grannis Position

The greater ambiguity about the future of the project may arise from conflicting interpretations of the 2002 Open Spaces legislation. Assemblymember Pete Grannis, the Democrat who represents Roosevelt Island, has taken the position that the language of the 2002 Open Spaces legislation prohibits construction or reconstruction beyond the walls of the landmarked Octagon ruin. RIOC President Herbert E. Berman has disagreed with the Grannis interpretation, along with Becker and Becker. While neither has signaled any recognition that the Grannis contention may be valid, there was no other explanation of the resolution language specifying that "all required consents of the legislature" be obtained.

That wording appears to be a response to a letter Grannis sent to Commissioner Judith Calogero, who heads the State Department of Housing and Community Renewal, on August 11. Grannis wrote that "it is my position that the use of any open land in Octagon Park for this proposed project contravenes the public trust doctrine as an illegal alienation of land deemed to be municipal parkland..."

Late last week, Grannis saw the language in the Board's resolution as recognition of the validity of his view. "I have argued from the outset," he said, "that the project's intrusion on the open space surrounding the landmarked Octagon Tower as delineated in the General Development Plan (GDP) would violate Chapter 493 of the laws of 2002. My position, unambiguously communicated in my public statements and written communications in connection with this project, is that an amendment to the law is needed if this project is to move forward. Now, after two years of ignoring this legal impediment, it appears that RIOC has finally acknowledged the validity of this position, in the resolutions adopted by the Board August 30."

Grannis continued, "With the removal of what the Board's resolutions term 'park facilities' and the tennis courts from the land RIOC proposes to lease for this project, and the call for moving the project's underground parking from beneath the tennis courts to the more tightly defined leased premises, the Board now joins me and the Island's other elected public officials in recognizing the need to protect the integrity of open space in this area."

RIOC has provided no information on what legislative approvals it might seek, nor is it known how approvals might be obtained, during the 32-day extension provided in the resolution, with the Legislature out of session and not expected back in Albany until after the November election. But the resolution extending site control does empower Berman to grant further extensions "if deemed advisable within his appropriate discretion."

Late last week, Bruce Becker, President of Becker and Becker, hailed the passage of the resolutions, while noting that there are details remaining to be cleared up. This week, he said, "If by taking more time there is broader support for the project, I'm for taking the extra time."

Lower-Rent Units

The plan for lower rents for a portion of the 511 apartments has been altered in the Becker and Becker proposal. Eligibility for the restricted-rent apartments will now be pegged at 150% of "Area Median Income" (AMI), a federal housing guideline. The result:

. Studio apartments renting for $1,611 will go to applicants earning $66,000 per year or less.

. One-bedroom units, at $1,722, will be limited to those earning under $71,000.

. Two-bedroom apartments, at $2,068, are limited to tenants with household income under $84,750.

The bulk of the apartments, however, will go at market rate.

No process has been announced for application for the restricted-rent apartments. If past practice is followed, it is likely a lottery will be involved.

Tennis Courts

The resolutions provide for Becker and Becker to construct six lighted temporary tennis courts in Southtown on the Queens side of the extended Main Street, south of Blackwell House and north of the soccer field, where Southtown buildings 7, 8, and 9 are planned. Initially, temporary courts were in the plan because construction of underground parking at the Octagon Park tennis courts would make them unavailable for an extended period. The presence of the temporary courts in the plans approved last week is taken by some to suggest that the Board's position on the use of the Octagon courts may later be subject to adjustment based on legal opinions to be sought from the State.