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History of Tribeca Buildings
Plans for new tower at Independence Plaza have begun
Vornado Realty Trust and Stellar Management, which have been planning an additional tower for Independence Plaza for years, since 2018, have filed their plans with the Department of City Planning for an environmental review. The proposal sets out to explore the maximum allowable bulk for the site, which would include a 1090-foot, 72-story tower with 976 units. (The Commercial Observer caught the filings first; I caught up with an email to the developers’ press contact.)
The proposal assumes that approvals would be complete by mid-2027, demolition would take six months, and construction would begin by early 2028 with a 48-month construction period — getting us to 2032.
The tower would be residential, but there would be three additional buildings built to the edge of the property that are 85-feet tall to a setback, then rising again to 125 feet. The tower would be in line with Jay Street. The total is 1,110,943 zoning square feet on the development site. The 45 units currently on the site in the townhouses would be demolished and rebuilt elsewhere on the property.
The proposal says that 251 units of affordable housing would be provided under a zoning program called Universal Affordability Preference, which permits a height increase in exchange — from what I can tell it got them an additional 2 FAR, or 20 percent more height. But the affordable housing component has not been determined yet — it could be on site, off site, new construction, substantial rehabilitation or preservation of affordable units.
The parcel they are developing is called Parcel 3C, a designation left over from when those superblocks were first created in the late 1960s. It includes the southern-most tower at Independence Plaza, 310 Greenwich. (The three towers together have 1300 units.)
The new proposal includes 29,297 square feet of retail. The existing 232 parking spaces would remain with no additional proposed.
There are two bulk options for the tower — envelopes A and B. In both cases, the streetscape proposal would eliminate the existing recesses and arcades, mechanical vents and the parking entrance, which would be relocated to Harrison from Greenwich.
“The added density is consistent with the intent of the large-scale residential development [created in 1971] and current City goals to incentivize new housing for New Yorkers,” the proposal reads. “The Proposed Project is compatible with the surrounding context. The proposed contextual street walls along Greenwich Street are consistent with the loft buildings in the Tribeca West Historic District across the street to the east, and the proposed tower is consistent with the taller towers of Lower Manhattan.”
A spokesperson added: “We are proposing a modification to unlock the maximum amount of residential floor area allowed under the site’s current zoning to help the Mamdani Administration meet its goals of building as much housing as possible. We look forward to continuing to work with residents, neighbors and key stakeholders in the months ahead to ensure this project reflects the needs of both the city and the people that live and work here.”
Independence Plaza was planned as a large-scale residential development (LSRD) under a series of approvals in 1971 by the NYC Planning Commission, the (long gone) Board of Estimate and the Board of Standards and Appeals, allowing for up to 12 FAR. Completed in 1975, the three high-rise residential towers and townhouse-style rental buildings included 1,328 apartments but were not developed to the full FAR potential, leaving over 600,000 square feet remaining.
Because of that original zoning, the development proposal does not have to go through the city’s land use review process, but it does have to go through environmental review, the City Environmental Quality Review. The spokesperson for the development team added that this is still in the early planning phases to determine the best use of the allowable space and has not yet determined the size and scope of any new development. What it has determined is the maximum possible building envelope for the site, which is the 1,090-foot building.
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Great project. Streetscape improvements and removal of the parking driveway from Greenwich will be huge benefits to the community. Nice chunk of housing + affordable component. But would like to see some $$ extracted from the developer for 234 and Washington Market Park. 1k units is a lot of new people using already crowded infrastructure.
Yup, I’m with you generally. I’d always like to see more money for community benefits, since you know the developers are planning on making a killing (or they wouldn’t be doing it!).
With this and the resumption of construction at 2WTC, lots of action downtown; also assuming 5WTC will get going at some point in the nearish future.
this isn’t safe for the tenants or the businesses on the block. Vernado lies about affordable housing and doesn’t care about its tenants for years
Chris Marte told us during his reelection campaign that the development is not moving forward now and that is pushing for housing at the Chinatown jail which, which Chris has been advocating for years.
Neither of that has happened – I really don’t know what he does for this community, he’s no where to be seen and found. And none of his promises are kept
I cannot believe he said that, nor that anyone believed that.
Even though building housing is worthwhile, the scale of this project is not in keeping with the community. Despite the proposal text: “… the proposed tower is consistent with the taller towers of Lower Manhattan,” 1,090 feet is likely higher than any other downtown residential properties, including those converted from commercial buildings. It’s curious that they’re adding no parking spaces in the development.
I suppose that Tribecans had design and height concerns when Independence Plaza upset the scale in the 1970’s. IP was not built to maximum capacity then. That does not seem to be the case now, if the developer and the city pursue the goal “… to unlock the maximum amount of residential floor area allowed …”
There is parking — the same that exists there now, however.
And see this post on height.
There was no “Tribeca” when IPN was built. The area from Citibank to Whole Foods complex was in an urban renewal area, with restrictions, but meant for development. What is needed is schools and playgrounds, and maybe some park space. Hard not to be a NIMBY here, we definitely need housing – but we also need to accommodate the children.
(Pam’s coverage of development issues is so amazing.)
I choose to focus on the positive: 976 new homes, in a fantastic location — a heart of Tribeca, transit-rich, amid considerable green space. More NY voters! More transit use! More life in Tribeca!
To the previous commenter (@G) who wants schools and playgrounds: do you not know that schools are added or subtracted based on the current and forecasted population of children? 976 new homes will mean lots of schoolkids not to mention more patrons for our stores, restaurants, shops that we love and want to keep.
For sure, a new 72-story tower will change things — quite a lot close by and with real outward ripples. I get it.
For the record, my bedroom window will be less than 300 feet from the new tower. Meaning: I will be “impacted.”
Terrible for the neighborhood. Too tall, ugly does not add anything to Tribeca just more congestion and people. It will block and disturb the architecture of Tribeca.
Vornado has built 3 of the most ugly and brutalist buildings in the city. They are not great to live in or look at. No one else think it is odd they are being entrusted to build a fourth. Not a NIMBY but what buildings look and feel like matters. Not of course to Mandami or de Blasio who take real pleasure in sticking it to neighborhoods they hate – tribeca, the village, soho, UWS etc . They see a building like this as leveling everyone in the city dowm but to the people who actually have to live in them and look at them for decades it matters. Let’s build it but not have the same Robert Moses inspired neighborhood breakers do it.
Vornado was not involved in building the original 3 buildings, they bought an interest in them much later.