$375M Studio Project to Add 700,000 SF to Hell's Kitchen

NEW YORK CITY-Hell’s Kitchen residents will soon have a movie studio in their neighborhood, whether they like it or not. Some don’t. Developers of the 700,000-sf Studio City project yesterday said that the project sailed through the city’s approval process “with flying colors,” but neighborhood residents who sat on Community Board Four’s Land Use Committee when the project was pitched two years ago say they voted against the plan as it was presented, insisting it was far too large for the neighborhood.

Studio City New York LLC principal Lee Tomlinson and marketing and sales head Richard Benowitz say they hope to break ground by the end of the year on the $375-million film/television production studio complex, provided they are able to secure an anchor tenant for the project and prelease a significant portion of its 400,000 sf of office space. The 92,000-sf parcel of city-owned land on 11th Avenue between 44th and 45th streets is under contract, air rights from a neighboring school have been signed over and all the necessary approvals are in place. “The Community Board and [city councilmember] Christine Quinn have been fully supportive,” says Tomlinson. “We came through with flying colors.”

But at least two former members of Community Board Four’s Land Use Committee, which advises the board on development in that part of Clinton, say the Studio City project faced stiff opposition from the start. Clinton Coalition president John Fisher and neighborhood resident Bruce Levine were both on the committee when it reviewed the Studio City proposal in late 2000. They say the committee voted to reject the development unless it was significantly scaled back. “There was substantial community concern for reducing the size and scope of the project,” says Fisher. “We didn’t want to stop them completely. We don’t have a problem with a film studio in the neighborhood, but it was too large.”