Community Board 11 voted to approve a project to build housing for graduate medical students at 1776 Eastchester Road within the Hutchinson Metro Center during a full board meeting Wednesday, August 9.
The board voted to inform NYC Department of City Planning that it has no objection to Montefiore’s proposed staff housing as it pertains to the parcel of land it intends to purchase within the Hutchinson Metro Center, according to district manager Jeremy Warneke.
Montefiore Hospital is proposing a 12-story, 182-unit staff housing building and has a non-binding letter of intent to purchase the property to provide housing for graduate medical students, according to Montefiore spokeswoman Lara Markenson.
The proposal depends on whether zoning allows for the building to be used for this purpose.
The board met at the Morris Park Community Association, 1824 Bronxdale Avenue.
“Everything went well” at the Wednesday, August 9 meeting, said Joe Kelleher, president of Simone Metro Properties at the Hutchinson Metro Center.
CB 11’s Land Use Committee had held a previous meeting on Wednesday, July 12, that focused on the zoning matter.
Kelleher recalled in an interview Wednesday, August 16, that Joseph McManus, chairman of the Land Use Committee, was very thorough in his questioning during the July 12 meeting.
McManus wanted to understand the project and how it was going to fit the neighborhood, how tall it would be, etc.
Kelleher described how the Hutchinson Metro Center helps community groups, and also updated CB 11 on his conversations with the police and fire departments to establish an evacuation plan for the whole Hutchinson Metro Center, according to minutes from that meeting.
Also at the meeting Adam Rothkrug, a zoning attorney for Simone Metro Properties, explained the project will be built on top of the parking lot parallel to Bassett Avenue, near the Marriot Atrium in the Hutchinson Metro Center.
The rezoning would change two parcels from M1-1 to C4-2 and C4-2A and move the M1-1 zone down the middle of Marconi Street.
However, City Planning is pushing to rezone the whole area, according to Warneke.
CB 11 contends the rezoning should be confined to the site where Montefiore intends to build its staff housing only.
“We don’t want the whole area to be rezoned, but that’s probably what’s going to happen,” Warneke said. “We’re opposed to that.”
The Land Use Committee did not have a quorem during its meeting and could not take official action on the project.
Additionally, since the project was certified on Wednesday, June 14, CB 11 had only until Friday, July 14, to act within the time frame of the ULURP process.
