Nearly 200 Apartments Proposed For Two Neighboring Greenpoint Lots

GREENPOINT— A vacant lot on West Street in Greenpoint could become a nine-story apartment building with 99 housing units.

Developer Mendy Schwimmer filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings for a roughly 70,000-square-foot building at 70 West St., between Milton Street and Noble Streets.

The proposal includes about 1,300 square feet of commercial space, 13 parking spaces, a cellar and a 31-foot backyard.

Schwimmer also filed plans in late September for a 10-story, 55-unit apartment building with a penthouse at 877 Grand St. in East Williamsburg, according to city records.

Another proposed residential development sits next door to the Greenpoint site.

Developer Yossel Lichtman filed plans in late May for a project at 72 West St. with a similar number of housing units.

The proposals come amid changes to New York City's affordable housing tax incentives.

The city's 485-x program offers property tax benefits for qualifying residential developments while imposing minimum wage requirements on certain projects with 100 or more units. The threshold has created an incentive for some developers to propose buildings with 99 apartments rather than 100 or more.

The filing does not establish a construction start date or a completion timeline.