A former sugar refining plant could see a second life as part of a mixed-use residential development that would transform the Williamsburg waterfront.
The so-called "New Domino" plan entered the city’s public review period last week. The process will take several months to complete and includes reviews by the City Council, City Planning, the Borough President and Community Board.
The site is the vacant plant where Domino Sugar once operated.
The plan calls for 2,200 residential units, 30% of which (660 units) would be set aside for affordable housing – a high percentage compared to other developments in the area. The plan also includes up to 274,000 s/f of retail and community space and up to 99,000 s/f of office space, the developer said. The former refinery would be reused and the iconic, 40-foot Domino Sugar sign is to be incorporated into the project.
In addition, New Domino would boast four acres of open space, including a waterfront esplanade, and the building of new glass-and-brick towers on both sides of the refinery. Building heights would vary, with the largest height being 40 stories.
"The plan for the New Domino, five years in the making, reflects the best of New York, a secure and attractive community where people of varied backgrounds are able to live together harmoniously and pursue their individual dreams," said Michael Lappin, president and CEO of the Community Preservation Corporation and CPC Resources, Inc., the developer.
"The plan also reflects what the community has told us it wants — a significant amount of truly affordable housing, respect for the existing fabric of the neighborhood and access to public waterfront open space."
The developer purchased the 11-acre plant in 2004, the same year that sugar processing ceased there. According to the planning application, the oldest buildings on the site date back to the 1880s, though sugar refining had been done there since the 1850s. The plant was known as Domino Sugar until 2001 when the brand was bought by American Sugar Refining, which continued operations at the site for the next three years.
The land sits next to the Greenpoint-Williamsburg rezoning area, which in 2005 opened up 184 blocks of industrial property for residential use. Two years ago, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated three buildings on the site as landmarks. City data has shown that Brooklyn has been home to the highest percentage of stalled residential projects — many of them in Williamsburg — but officials waved off any suggestions of the project being a gamble.
"CPC is fulfilling one of the neighborhood’s greatest desires, the creation of 660 new and affordable apartments — some for families earning as little as $24,000," said a spokesman for the developer. "The stalled construction that you speak of is all market rate, luxury housing."
Also, the project is not expected to be finished for a while. Construction would start in 2011 and be phased in over a 10-year period, according to the developer.
Rafael Viñoly Architects designed the planned four new towers while Beyer Blinder Belle handled the re-use and addition for the refinery.
Officials are excited for the review to be underway.
Susan Pollock, senior vice president of CPC Resources, Inc., and the New Domino project manager, said in a statement, "I am absolutely delighted we’ve gotten this far and I’m delighted with what we’ve come up with: something that will please everyone and that will add enormously to the Williamsburg community."