As we reported yesterday, today’s the day Mayor Bloomberg and city planning officials formally unveil the development team for the Seward Park redevelopment project.
Yesterday, they leaked the basic details to the New York Times. The Wall Street Journal followed up with a few more tidbits. As the Times noted, the project, called Essex Crossing, will be built by L+M Development Partners, BFC Partners, Taconic Investment Partners and Grand Street Settlement. A movie theater and an annex of the Andy Warhol Museum are in the mix. The city will be paid $180 million for the parcels, which were steeply discounted in exchange for 500 units of subsidized housing and other community amenities.
The Journal reported that the complex on the six acre site near the Williamsburg Bridge will also include “a bowling alley, an urban farm, incubator space for technology companies,” as well as a “below-grade, sun-filled market lane stretching along five contiguous sites on Delancey Street that will feature stalls from the Essex Street Market and other small retail spaces curated by Brooklyn’s Smorgasburg.” Building heights, the story added, will range from about 7 to 22 stories. The developers intend to include some condo units in the project, as well as rental apartments.
The developers hope to break ground in 18 months. The project will take about seven years to complete. The site plan is being created by SHoP Architects and Beyer Binder Belle (the later firm is already familiar to Community Board 3, since it led the urban design phase of the the board’s Seward Park deliberations). “Individual buildings will be designed by different firms to create a diversity of styles.”
Wonderful! Now the historic neighborhood many of us grew up in will attract more spoiled yuppies vomiting in the streets.And this also means,rent will go up as well!