BHB: When will a decision about a developer be reached?
Johnson, BPL: Where we are in the process: EDC, the Economic Development Corporation, is representing the City in the sale of this property, because technically it’s a City-owned property and it’s our responsibility to take care of it. When you sell a City-owned building, the Economic Development Corporation becomes an arm of the City for the transaction, and EDC put out an RFP to the development community and received as many as they’ve ever received for a property—I believe it was 14. They winnowed it down to seven, and now we’ve winnowed it down even further and I think it’s [a] realistic thing to say—I think this is conservative—I think by October we will probably have selected the developer and hopefully have signed a contract with the developer. So “imminent” is actually a pretty good word.
But that of course is just the beginning, because then we get to go into ULURP and that will be a treat!
BHB: David Woloch (BPL Executive Vice President, Brooklyn Public Library) mentioned recently that a decision on the developer for the Brooklyn Heights Library site might be announced in June.
Johnson, BPL: June-July was always a bit optimistic and that’s my fault. I always think I can do things faster than I seem to be able. The fact is that we are being really careful about who we partner with. We’re going to be doing business with these guys, whoever the developer is, for the next few years, so we want to be sure we pick the right developer and the right project. I am restraining myself and everyone else around me to be thoughtful, and careful. You used the word “risk.” You take a risk when there’s a reward, right? We’re not taking a crazy risk, and I’m making sure that we’re taking very calculated risks; and that takes a little more time than I had anticipated.
They [developers] also take the risk, right? They take a very big risk and they enjoy the possibility of a very big reward. Now Donnell, we learned a lot from Donnell, because New York Public Library sold Donnell, and they closed it down immediately, and they weren’t ready to start construction. We’re not going to close down the existing branch until we absolutely need to demolish the existing building. We also have in the RFP a requirement that the developer provide us with an interim space from the moment that the current branch is closed until we’re back into the new one.
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