New proposed name for Hudson Square (aka West Soho, aka South Village, aka HoHo): DepotVille. Having heated up 23rd Street and brought brownstoners joy in Bed-Stuy, Home Depot is targeting Hudson Square—345 Hudson Street, to be exact—for its next Manhattan outpost. What's more interesting than that, though, is the retailer's business partner on the deal. Peter Slatin explains:
The building is owned by the real estate arm of New York's legendary Trinity Church, which since the late 1990s has been reshaping the 19th century industrial district as Hudson Square, a mixed-use office, creative and residential area. Trinity owns some 6 million square feet in 18 buildings in Hudson Square. Last fall, in an effort to rev up its efforts to rev up the neighborhood's cachet, Trinity hired Carl Weisbrod, a founder of the Alliance for Downtown New York and a well-regarded urban strategist, to head up Trinity Real Estate. Weisbrod's emphasis has been to lay the groundwork for the district's growth as a creative and welcoming residential and commercial neighbrohood and a gateway to other neighborhoods to the north, south and east. Trinity established the Hudson Square district in 1983; it is bounded by Sixth Avenue and the Hudson River on the east and west, and Morton and Canal streets to the north and south.
Hear that, friends? Hudson Square, a microneighborhood name ordained by God. We'll see you HoHo lovers in hell.
· Home Depot Meets Hudson Square [The Slatin Report]
· Locating Dani Boy: South Village or HoHo? [Curbed]