Now that the excitement from the rendering reveal bonanza that was the city's announcement of its plans for the long-vacant Seward Park Urban Renewal Area has died down, it's time to take a closer look at the details. The Lo-Down reports that evelopers just launched an official website for "Essex Crossing," as the residential-commercial complex is now called, and also appear before Community Board 3's land use committee to present a timeline for their vision and answer questions from concerned neighbors. It was already public that, in addition to shops, restaurants, a movie theater, parks, office space, and an Andy Warhol Museum, would contain 1,000 apartments: 500 priced for low- and middle-income families, and preference given to families displaced from the site when it was first razed.
In order to break down such a large project, there will be three or four construction phases over a 10- or 11- year period. Ground will actually get broken in "12 to 24 months"; the first phase will include 60 percent of the total affordable housing units, a 15,000-square-foot park, a rooftop farm, 41,000 square feet of community space, the new Essex Street Market, a movie theater, and a grocery store on Clinton Street. Specifically, that phase will also encompass the Warhol museum, a community facility run by Grand Street Settlement, and a "dual-generation school" operated by Educational Alliance.
As for the apartments to be built across the all the phases, 743 rental units will be located in four different buildings that are 50/50 affordable and market-rate. Another 100 apartments will be designated for seniors in an all-senior building. The remaining 157 will be condos (a.k.a. "homeownership units") located in two additional buildings that are 80 percent affordable and 20 percent market-rate. Here's a timeline for housing:
The teaser site has a place for people to sign up to get e-mails with more details about the retail and office space as well as the affordable housing as it becomes available. The Lo-Down has more information on the retail space, office space, and other amenities (bowling alley and Smorgasburg, anyone?) via slides from the PowerPoint presentation given to the community board.
As a refresher, here's what the whole place will look like:
· Essex Crossing [official]
· Seward Park Developers Create Web Site, Detail Essex Crossing Plans [The Lo-Down]
· The Future of the Lower East Side's SPURA Revealed! [Curbed]
· Change is Bittersweet for Lower East Side's SPURA Locals [Curbed]
· All Spura coverage [Curbed]
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