A few more details in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) this morning regarding a proposal from Forest City Ratner to develop the Seward Park site. The firm, which is in charge of the controversial Atlantic Yards Project, is one of several development companies vying for the Seward Park contract.
WeWork, a company that provides boutique office space to startups and other businesses, has leased nearly 700,000 square feet in the city over the past three years, according to co-founder Adam Neumann. Now WeWork is part of a bid to develop a swath of the Lower East Side known as Seward Park. Last week, developer Forest City Ratner Cos. included plans for an approximately 400,000-square-foot WeWork headquarters facility in its bid to develop a series of buildings that include retail and below-market rate housing at Seward Park, which is owned by the city, Mr. Neumann said… The Forest City Ratner team also includes the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty and the Henry Street Settlement, a Lower East Side-based social service organization, according to a person with knowledge of the bid. If the team wins the bid, the organization would locate its workforce development program in the project. WeWork makes shared, open, incubator-like office space that it leases out to startups, freelancers and other small companies. The company has enjoyed high demand from startups and tech companies.
The city is expected to select a developer or developers for the nine parcel project near the Williamsburg Bridge by the fall.
