DEVELOP WILLETS POINT, WITHOUT ADDING A HUGE MALL ON 30+ ACRES OF PARKLAND, AND WITHOUT EXPANDING THE DEVELOPMENT

FROM 62 TO 108.9 ACRES? THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THREE OTHER DEVELOPER FIRMS PROPOSED TO DO! THE CITY REJECTED THOSE PROPOSALS IN A SELECTION PROCESS THAT SHUT OUT CB7, DESPITE PROMISING CB7 IN WRITING THAT IT WOULD PARTICIPATE.
Sterling/Related, and their expanded plan which adds the 1.4 million square foot "W illets W est" mall on parkland, were designated by the City administration. Here are the three proposals that required no parkland mall and no expansion of the project and which CB7 was denied the opportunity to participate in evaluating:

Macerich
Features: "A True Retail Destination" Food & Beverage Entertainment Housing Hotel Public Open Space Parking "A Model Green Community"

Silverstein Properties, Inc. and Taubman Centers, Inc.

Features: "Entertainment Corridor & Urban Room" 126th Street Retail Restaurant Row Neighborhood Retail Street Eco-Promenade 100 percent affordable housing (400 units) "A Model Sustainable Community"

TDC Development and Construction Corp.

Features: "W orld Trade Center Queens" Hotel Restaurant Trade Mart Convention Center Retail Complex Entertainment District Office Building Neighborhood Park

Among the reasons given for rejecting those proposals: "Would have required public subsidies." And yet, Sterling/Related are set to receive public subsidies worth nearly half a billion dollars: 23 acres of W illets Point Phase One property, worth more than $200 million, for the price of just $1; a capital grant in the amount of $99 million to cover numerous project costs, including remediation; and $20 million in sales tax exemption. "Would have required rezoning." Really? Perhaps rezoning the W illets Point Phase One property would have been preferable to expanding the project to 108.9 acres and adding a 1.4 million square foot mall to be constructed on parkland, with increased traffic impacts. Had CB7 been allowed to participate in developer selection as was promised, it could have expressed a preference to proceed with rezoning instead of expanding the project and sacrificing parkland to include a huge mall, with its untenable traffic impacts. Development of W illets Point need not depend on constructing a mall on 30+ acres of public parkland, and need not expand beyond the boundaries of the 62-acre Special District established in 2008. Deny the present application of Sterling/Related. Make the City publish a new Request for Proposals, and insist that the City fulfill its written commitments to include CB7 in the developer selection process. In that way, CB7 can do its part to ensure that proposals of all developers not just those who have special access to property beyond the boundaries specified within an RFP are fairly considered.