Let the makeover begin!
In a stunning reversal, the developer proposing a glitzy, Vegas-style entertainment complex for the center of Coney Island’s amusement district has dropped the project’s most contentious element – luxury high-rise housing.
Thor Equities CEO Joe Sitt yesterday said outcry from City Hall and community groups led him to ax the 900 condo units he planned to build off the Stillwell Avenue boardwalk.
“This is our way of being responsible and putting out an olive branch to the community and city administration,” Sitt told The Post yesterday as he strolled along the fabled boardwalk.
The developer – who in the past insisted that the project wasn’t feasible without the housing – said the focus will now shift away from condos and more toward hotel space to help guarantee the summer amusement area becomes a year-round attraction.
He said his revised plan includes an amusement-park hotel with indoor and outdoor rides that would be built along what is now Astroland Park.
“If you have kids, what better hotel to stay at than one with its own amusement park and that is next to the historic Wonder Wheel on one end and has the landmark Cyclone on the other?” he said.
The 10-acre project, previously valued at $2 billion, would now run Sitt about $1.5 billion. It also includes a water-park hotel, a full-service hotel, retail, a multilevel carousel, a 4,000-foot roller coaster and other new rides.
The Brooklyn-born Sitt walked along the boardwalk and informed some of his staunchest opponents that he was dropping the housing.
“No way! No way! That’s amazing, I am so happy,” said Dianna Carlin, the owner of Lola Staar Souvenir Boutique on the boardwalk.
Carlin in March organized a massive “No Condos in Coney” rally outside City Hall to protest the city’s anticipated rezoning of the amusement district that would allow Sitt and other developers to build housing.
Some city officials expressed skepticism.
“We remain committed to the goals outlined in the city’s strategic plan, including an enhanced and publicly accessible amusement district – and we have yet to see plans that are truly compatible with them,” said Andrew Brent, a spokesman for the city’s Economic Development Corp.
Sitt’s reversal means a 50-story condo tower once planned for Stillwell would be replaced with a four-story structure that would still allow Cyclone riders a grand view of the Parachute Jump.
Besides the housing, many Coney Islanders have objected to beachfront development that would exceed the height of the 262-foot Parachute Jump.
When asked about his project’s heights, Sitt said, “Issues like that are open for discussion,” but added that he believes his new proposal conforms to the city’s current zoning regulations for the amusement area.
Sitt’s housing about-face is a far cry from his company’s previous stance, first reported by The Post in January, that the project would have to be scrapped if the city didn’t rezone the amusement district to allow him to build luxury housing.