What's Happening With Roosevelt Island's Main Street Retail & Mitchell Lama Privatization- RIOC Real Estate Committee To Meet And Discuss Today

Image of Roosevelt Island Main Street Arcades From Page 14 of Consultants Retail Report

Roosevelt Island's Main Street retail situation, or more precisely, lack of retail - particularly with the recent closing of the Grog Liquor Shop - is always a topic of great interest and disgust. A reader of this post asks:

I thought getting new stores here was now in the laps of the RIOC Board Members.... Can someone ask them what's being done to fill the storefronts?

Reacting to the Grog Shop's closing and empty Main Street stores this reader commented:

It is in the hands of the RIOC Board Members that we voted in.

Urge them to take action. A study was completed and the laws were changed.

Now, let's get a Flower Shop, an Ice Cream Parlor, a Bakery, a Fish Store and another Pizzaria opened in the heart of Main Street.

The Roosevelt Island Operating Corp's (RIOC) Real Estate Advisory Committee will be meeting today to discuss Main Street Retail and Mitchell Lama Privatization. According to RIOC:

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a meeting of the Real Estate Development Advisory Committee of the RIOC Board of Directors will be held on Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 5:30 p.m. at the RIOC administrative office, 591 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, New York. The Committee will meet to:

1. discuss the Main Street retail master lease project; and
2. discuss issues pertaining to the privatization of the Mitchell-Lama buildings.

New RIOC Director Margie Smith comments:

I don't have any comment right now about the Master Leasholder or the M/L privatization status other than to say that the Real Estate Committee is giving them top priority and doing everything possible to move both projects along as responsibly as possible.

A video or audio webcast of the meeting will be made available on RIOC's web site within two business days.

More on Roosevelt Island Master Leaseholder plan here and the Main Street Retail Consultant's report is below.

Roosevelt Island Main Street Retail Study

Regarding Mitchell Lama Privatizations, RIOC President Steve Shane's 2/25 message (Item 9) reported:

Privatization of Mitchell-Lamas: With the extensive discussion and debate at the Board meeting to express the sense of the Board for ground lease extensions, RIOC has taken a step forward in preserving the long term affordability of the portion of the housing on the Island represented by Rivercross, Island House and Westview. Much work and many details remain to be resolved with the other governmental agencies who are stakeholders in Roosevelt Island. Stay tuned for developments.

During the February 18 RIOC Board Of Directors meeting Mr. Shane further commented on the Rivercross, Island House and Westview privatizations. The comments were transcribed by the Main Street WIRE. An excerpt from the full transcript below:

... The subject of privatization this Island of what were four Mitchell- Lama buildings for what were fondly known as the WIRE buildings, for Westview, Island House, Rivercross, and Eastwood has been going on for a long time and it is generated by the provision in the Private Housing Finance Law that gives individual Mitchell-Lamas the right to withdraw from the program after a number of years of regulation. Now, there is controversy over whether that applies to the projects here on the Island because of the provisions in the ground lease with the City of New York to which each of them subscribed at the time they were formed and had their own sublease, ...

The 2/27/10 Main Street WIRE has more on Roosevelt Island's Mitchell Lama privatization efforts.

The webcast of the February RIOC Board of Directors Meeting including Mr. Shane's full statement on privatizations of Roosevelt Island Mitchell Lama buildings is available here.