250 Water Street – Wikipedia

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Development site in Manhattan, New York

250 Water Street is a site in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is currently occupied by a parking lot, located in the South Street Seaport, one of the city’s historic districts. The Howard Hughes Corporation owns the site, and has released several proposals for converting the existing parking facility into a residential or mixed-use development.

Development and site history[edit]

Early history[edit]

In the 19th-century, a five-story thermometer factory occupied the site.[1] The site also previously held other factories in which work with mercury occurred and a gas station.[2]

Milstein Properties ownership[edit]

Milstein Properties purchased the site in 1979 for $5.8 million.[3] Due to the site’s location at the edge of the South Street Seaport Historic District, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) was required to approve all proposals for the site.[4] Eight proposals by Milstein failed to see approval by the LPC.[3] Milstein’s first two proposals for the site were buildings designed by architect Ulrich Franzen.[5] The first plan called for a 23-story structure, and the second a 475-foot, 43-story apartment building.[5] Both faced opposition from locals,[5] and both were rejected by the city.[6] A third proposal for an Art Deco-inspired building designed by Jan Hird Pokorny was also rejected.[6] Milstein’s failures were likely informed by Milstein’s 1981 conversion of the New York Biltmore Hotel from a hotel to an office building.[7] Preservationists were disappointed by the speed with which the conversion occurred, and that Milstein did not preserve the building’s Palm Court.[7] However, a 1991 proposal was approved, designed by Charles A. Platt and Paul Spencer Byard,[7] but it was never built.[3]

Howard Hughes Corporation ownership[edit]

The Howard Hughes Corporation purchased the site in 2018 from Milstein Properties for $180 million.[8] Milstein provided a $130 million loan to Howard Hughes to finance the purchase.[9] At the time of the sale, Howard Hughes owned several nearby sites.[9][10] After the acquisition, the first plans for the site were revealed in early 2020, though Howard Hughes denied they were reflective of their real intentions for the site.[11] The organization claimed in a statement that the designs had leaked as part of the portfolio of a former Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architect and were not reflective of real plans.[11] The leaked plans depicted a 1,052-foot tower clad in brick.[11] Later in 2020, official plans calling for a development with two towers rising from a single podium were released.[12]

A third proposal, featuring four shorter, closely gathered towers rising from a single podium and forming a single structure, was made public in early April 2021.[13] The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved this design in early May.[14] In addition to this approval, the project must go through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure for work to begin.[14] The ULURP process began in May 2021,[15] but the vote was not planned to occur until 2022.[15] The Howard Hughes Corporation agreed in October 2021 to pay $40 million for air rights above the South Street Seaport Museum’s Tin Building and Pier 17.[16] Subsequently, the city government approved plans for the site at the end of 2021.[17][18] The 26-story building was to rise 324 feet (99 m) and contain 270 apartments (including at least 70 affordable housing units), as well as offices.[4] Excavations on the site began in 2022, although workers found very few historical artifacts.[19]

Opposition to development[edit]

Designs commissioned by Milstein Properties faced opposition from locals, including by Paul Goldstein, then chairman of Manhattan Community Board 1.[7] The various Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designs have also faced opposition outside the LPC.[3][20] Opponents of the development criticize it for its scale compared to the local historic district and for its introduction of housing units into a flood zone.[20]

A lawsuit filed during mid-2021 in an effort to prevent the development was dismissed in October of the same year,[21][22] but opponents continued to pursue legal action.[23] In a final attempt to prevent 250 Water Street from being built, the Seaport Coalition filed a lawsuit in July 2022 to prevent Howard Hughes’s development from proceeding.[4] In October 2022, New York Supreme Court judge Arthur Engoron placed an injunction on the development. According to Engoron, the LPC had rejected four proposals to develop that lot since the 1980s, but, in approving the Howard Hughes proposal, “the LPC failed adequately to acknowledge, much less explain, its departure from previous rulings.”[24][25] Engoron ruled against Howard Hughes in January 2023, saying that the developer and the LPC had agreed to an “impermissible quid pro quo”.[26] Howard Hughes plans to appeal Engoron’s decision.[27]

Current plans call for a 550,000 square foot building, with 270 residential units.[14] Of these, 70 will be affordable.[14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Margolies, Jane (June 7, 2019). “The Toxic Secret Underneath the Seaport”. The New York Times. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  2. ^ Sohn, Amy (May 6, 2021). “How a $180 Million Parking Lot Could Change N.Y.C.’s Historic Character”. The New York Times. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Pereira, Sydney (January 5, 2021). “Opponents Of Lower Manhattan Towers Would Prefer A Tow Pound Instead”. Gothamist. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Guse, Clayton (July 24, 2022). “Lower Manhattan groups sue to stop tower from being constructed atop South Street Seaport parking lot”. New York Daily News. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Dunlap, David W. (July 25, 1984). “APARTMENT TOWER IS PROPOSED IN SEAPORT DISTRICT”. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Dunlap, David (August 27, 1986). “LANDMARKS PANEL TURNS DOWN TOWER FOR SEAPORT DISTRICT”. The New York Times. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d Dunlap, David W. (June 9, 1991). “Commercial Property: South Street Seaport; At Last, a Plan Wins In Landmark District”. The New York Times. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  8. ^ Samtani, Hiten; Maurer, Mark (June 11, 2018). “Howard Hughes buys Milstein’s Seaport site for $180M”. The Real Deal New York. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Bautista, Christian (June 22, 2018). “Milstein lends $130M on Seaport site it long owned”. The Real Deal New York. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  10. ^ Baird-Remba, Rebecca (October 13, 2021). “Howard Hughes Battles Parents, Preservationists to Build 250 Water Street”. Commercial Observer. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  11. ^ a b c Londono, Vanessa (May 4, 2020). “Renderings Revealed for SOM’s Supertall 250 Water Street, in South Street Seaport District”. New York YIMBY. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  12. ^ Londono, Vanessa (October 23, 2020). “Howard Hughes Corporation Announces Plans for Two-Tower Development at 250 Water Street in South Street Seaport”. New York YIMBY. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  13. ^ Jones, Orion (April 6, 2021). “Howard Hughes revision meets opposition at 250 Water Street”. The Real Deal New York. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  14. ^ a b c d Hickman, Matt (May 4, 2021). “SOM’s shorter 250 Water Street tower approved for the South Street Seaport”. The Architect’s Newspaper. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  15. ^ a b Baird-Remba, Rebecca (October 13, 2021). “Howard Hughes Battles Parents, Preservationists to Build 250 Water Street”. Commercial Observer. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  16. ^ Modi, Priyanka (October 25, 2021). “Howard Hughes to Pay $40 Million to Seaport Museum”. The Real Deal New York. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  17. ^ Dilakian, Steven (December 29, 2021). “Howard Hughes Snags Approval for Seaport Tower 250 Water Street”. The Real Deal New York. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  18. ^ Gannon, Devin (January 5, 2022). “$850M South Street Seaport project gets final approval”. 6sqft. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  19. ^ “At 250 Water St., Digging Into the Seaport’s 18th-Century Past”. Tribeca Trib Online. November 17, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  20. ^ a b Sohn, Amy (May 6, 2021). “How a $180 Million Parking Lot Could Change N.Y.C.’s Historic Character”. The New York Times. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  21. ^ Small, Eddie (October 5, 2021). “Judge dismisses legal challenge aiming to stop controversial Seaport tower”. Crain’s New York Business. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  22. ^ “Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Opposing Controversial 250 Water Street Seaport Building”. Gothamist. October 6, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  23. ^ “Seaport community groups file new lawsuit against Howard Hughes tower”. Crain’s New York Business. February 9, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  24. ^ Johnson, Stephon (October 14, 2022). “Seaport Residents Cheer After Judge Halts Construction of Skyscraper; Developer Says It’s Just a Temporary Roadblock”. The City. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  25. ^ Dilakian, Steven (October 14, 2022). “Judge Pauses Howard Hughes Seaport High-Rise”. The Real Deal New York. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  26. ^ Modi, Priyanka (January 13, 2023). “Howard Hughes’ 250 Water Street Project Stopped by Judge”. The Real Deal New York. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  27. ^ Bellafante, Ginia (January 27, 2023). “In Affordable Housing v. Parking Lot, a Judge Chooses the Lot”. The New York Times. Retrieved February 5, 2023.