Sweet dreams at factory site

The paved-over waterfront stretching from the Williamsburg Bridge to Grand Street in north Brooklyn has been gated and locked since the Domino sugar factory opened its doors in 1857.

But in less than a decade, more than 4 acres of newly green waterfront will be accessible to the public if developers of the site get their wish, officials said yesterday.

 

“The idea was to maximize the open space so there’s a continuous greenway,” said Michael Lappin, president of Community Preservation Corporation Resources, the site’s developer.

The plan calls for a 40-foot-wide waterfront esplanade running from South Fifth Street to Grand Ferry Park and two car-free pathways leading from Kent Avenue directly to the East River.

The greenway is just one aspect of a larger project that aims to build 2,400 apartments as well as retail and cultural space on the Domino site. About 30 percent of the apartments are to be set aside for affordable housing, meaning they would be available to households earning up to $21,000 a year, said a spokesman for the developer, Richard Edmonds. Other portions of the space would be reserved for senior citizens, moderate-income households and market-rate apartments.

A decision on the project won’t be made until this fall or winter. But developers hope to start building by 2008.

The developer, CPC Resources, is the money-making branch of a nonprofit group that finances restoration of affordable housing. The company purchased the Domino site after the sugar factory stopped production in 2004. So far, the developer has won support from several community groups by bringing them into the planning process at its earliest stages, community leaders said.

Preliminary drawings show the refinery dwarfed by four towers, the tallest of which rises to a height of about 40 stories.

At the eastern end, a slightly shorter tower reaches a height equal to that of the Williamsburg Bridge, which sits across South Fifth Street.

Planners are still trying to figure out what to do with the Domino sign, Edmonds said.

A decision on the landmarking of the site will be made later this summer.

BY MAGDALENE PEREZ
amNewYork

Newsday