Gabriella Olivieri Publications Portfolio Annual Report - 2011 | Page 20

LEG A L DIVISIONS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CHIEF James McSpiritt D E P U T Y B e t t y Wo o The Economic Development Division serves as transactional counsel for the City on real estate development, land use, commercial, and other projects. The Division’s work reinforces the City’s economic base and creates jobs, office space, housing, cultural amenities, and public open space while reimagining the City for the 21st Century. Division attorneys work closely with City Hall, New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), and many other City agencies on all aspects of the transactions, from inception to closing, as well as post-closing administration. 17 Cable TV Franchise Renewal Agreements The Division worked closely with the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications on a nine-year renewal of the City’s cable TV franchise contracts with Time Warner Cable and Cablevision. The new contracts authorize the two companies to continue using the City’s streets to run their cables in competition with Verizon’s new FiOS system. All three companies now have City contracts that run to July 2020. These franchises are expected to generate over $100 million a year in revenue to the City. As a result of the latest agreement, the City will also receive more than $60 million worth of additional services, investments, and upgrades bene?tting the public. Ongoing Major Development Projects: The Division continues work on numerous ongoing development projects throughout the ?ve boroughs. Representative examples include: 1. World Trade Center Redevelopment 2. Far West Side Development 3. High Line Expansion 4. Columbia University Expansion 5. Flushing Commons Development 6. Hunters Point South Affordable Housing Project 7. Atlantic Yards and Brooklyn Nets Arena 8. Brooklyn Academy of Music Cultural District 9. Commercial Development in Downtown Brooklyn 10. Sunset Park Industrial Waterfront Modernization 11. Hunts Point BRONX Produce Market 12. Charleston Retail 11 Development 4 3 HA TT AN PHOTO: THE HIGH LINE Agreement to Close Last Major Gap in Manhattan “Greenway” Division attorneys helped negotiate an agreement that provides a framework for the United Nations to expand its New York City campus, making it possible to ?nance the completion of Manhattan’s 32-mile waterfront “greenway” by ?lling in the last remaining major public space gap between 38th and 60th Streets on the East Side. Sale of Federal Building Number 2 Division attorneys assisted in the simultaneous transfer of Federal Building Number 2 from the U.S. General Services Administration to NYCEDC and from NYCEDC to Salmar Properties, LLC. Salmar Properties will reactivate the 1.1 million-square-foot, eight-story industrial building, adjacent to the Gowanus Expressway along the Sunset Park waterfront, which has been vacant for over a decade. It is expected that as many as 1,500 construction and permanent jobs will be created at the facility. The project represents a key component of the Sunset Park Vision Plan and the City’s overall industrial policy. 2 MA N Roosevelt Island Science and Engineering Campus The Division worked on an historic agreement starting the process toward the eventual construction of a two-million-square-foot applied science and engineering campus on Roosevelt Island. Cornell University won the competitive bidding process to operate the campus, which will ultimately support up to 2,500 students and nearly 280 faculty members by 2043. 5 6 1 New East River Ferry Service Division attorneys helped facilitate this key component of the City’s comprehensive waterfront plan. The new service provides year-round ferry transportation between the East Side of Manhattan and parts of Queens and Brooklyn. BillyBey Ferry Company, the largest private ferry operator in the country, is providing service. QUEENS 9 87 10 BROOKLYN STATEN ISLAND 12 18