[Click to expand! Rendering by SHoP Architects.]
Like God creating the world in seven days, the historic Trinity Church wants to create a residential neighborhood in...ten years. OK, so maybe Trinity doesn't work as quickly as the man upstairs, but the church's powerful real estate arm is set to pull off a major transformation of Hudson Square?again. Trinity owns much of the land in the former West Soho "Printing District," and helped turn the area into a hotbed of media professionals when manufacturing went bye-bye. Trinity worked its tush off branding the neighborhood as Hudson Square, and helped spearhead many of the recent Big Achievements. Now the Lord's real estate empire is unveiling its next move: The residential rezoning of Hudson Square. We've been waiting for the details, and here they are.
Trinity execs gave The Villager an early peek at the plan before it goes through the public-review ringer. Up to 3,500 new apartments are expected to be added to the neighborhood over the next decade. There are a few legal residential buildings already in the area, but most of the zoning is for manufacturing uses, which leaves landlords little choice of what to do with their formerly industrial sites other than tossing up a new hotel, which has been happening a bunch.
The centerpiece of Trinity's plan is a 429-foot-tall residential tower at Canal Street and Sixth Avenue with a 420-seat, K-to-5 public school in its base (Trinity would build out the school's shell and gift it rent-free to the Department of Education). That's the tease seen above. Yep, this tower?which we're guessing is for Trinity's big lot at 417-423 Canal Street?is the third gigantic piece of news coming out of the headquarters of Manhattan's SHoP Architects this week, following Hunters Point South and Atlantic Yards B2. Trinity would also build a public park on part of the property at Duarte Square.
Trinity also has a whole bunch of ideas on height limits and other restrictions (no nightclubs or big-box stores), which The Villager goes into great detail on. Basically nobody wants another Trump Soho (which is 490' tall), or the end of commercial tenancy. Under the plan, existing buildings of more than 50,000 square feet cannot be residentially converted. If demolished, the new building that goes up would have to have an equal amount of square-footage dedicated to commercial space as the previous one.
When all is said and done, Trinity hopes to boost Hudson Square's residential occupancy from 4% to 25%, turning it into a 24-hour neighborhood along the way. Can they pull off this miracle? Well, they certainly have faith! Here's a map of the area that might be rezoned, from Canal Street up to West Houston:
· Trinity says it’s time for residential in Hudson Square [The Villager]
· Hudson Square Wants to Be the Next 24/7 Residential 'Hood [Curbed]
Loading comments...