Request from 250 West 49 Associates LLC for a recommendation to the Department of City Planning of approval for an application for a certification for the transfer of development rights, with an attendant contribution to the Theatre Subdistrict Council.
WHEREAS, 250 West 49 Associates LLC seeks to alter and enlarge a building that it owns at 250 W. 49th St (between 8th Ave. & Broadway — the so-called "receiving site"); and
WHEREAS, 250 West 49th Street is located within the Theater Subdistrict Core/Eighth Avenue Corridor of the Special Midtown District that designates the boundaries of receiving sites, while the Helen Hayes Theatre (formerly known as the Little Theatre, and in this context, known as the "granting site") is listed among those theatres with certain protections that are overseen by the Theatre Subdistrict Council; and
WHEREAS, 250 West 49 Associates LLC has purchased some 16,000 square feet of air rights from the Helen Hayes Theatre at 240 West 44th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues); and
WHEREAS, The Helen Hayes Theatre has been thoroughly inspected and deemed by licensed architects and engineers to be, in large part, operationally and physically sound, while also in need of certain upgrades and ongoing maintenance; and
WHEREAS, The Helen Hayes Theatre would retain an additional 43,378 square feet of air rights, should the anticipated sale of 16,000 square feet of air rights to 250 West 49 Associates be closed; and
WHEREAS, 250 West 49 Associates will contribute to the Theatre Subdistrict Council fund $17.60 per square foot of air rights that the associates purchase from the Helen Hayes Theatre — a contribution of $281,600; therefore be it
RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends approval of an application by 250 West 49 Associates LLC for the transfer of development rights from the Helen Hayes Theatre to 250 West 49 Street.