Greenpoint Development Update: With Alleged GMT Firestarter in Custody, Project Poised to Move Forward

This didn't take long at all. Over the last couple of weeks we have been searching for renderings of plans for the Greenpoint Terminal Market site. In today's package of coverage about the homeless alcoholic Polish immigrant said to have started the conflagration, the NY Times reports that: "The owner [Josh Guttman] is now free to revive development plans that could transform the 14-acre site into 2.6 million square feet of luxury housing, some of it ensconced in a gleaming 35-story tower that would loom over the East River." Mr. Guttman's lawyer said the process will move ahead "as soon as feasible." The Times added:

The owners still need to apply for demolition permits for several of their 15 parcels, according to the Department of Buildings, and planning officials said the Guttmans had yet to file plans outlining public waterfront access for the site. Once these approvals have been obtained, development can move forward in what remains a largely forlorn stretch of 19th-century industrial buildings and crumbling warehouses.

Interestingly, a City Planning Department spokesperson tells the Times that several projects are "ready to break ground" and that developments will include a riverfront esplanade. The paper quotes her as saying, "It's a very exciting time for the community."

"Exciting" indeed.