New details for Extell's Lower East Side affordable housing

Construction is ongoing and sales are well on their way at Extell’s Lower East Side tower One Manhattan Square, but unlike the condo and its many press releases, the notoriously tight-lipped development company has, for some time, neglected to publicly acknowledged the separate all-affordable building that’s being created in tandem.

The project at 229 Cherry Street is poised to include 204 apartments that are affordable in perpetuity. Ken Lowenstein, a lawyer representing Extell, appeared in front of Manhattan Community Board 3’s Land Use Subcommittee again last night to seek support for Extell’s 421-a application for the site. The subcommittee declined their support, as they’ve done before, but Lowenstein’s presentation included some updates about what to expect at 229 Cherry.

The 204 apartments are poised to be available for people making 60 percent of area median income. At that, Lowenstein says, the maximum rents for studios will be $867, $931 for one-bedrooms, and $1,123 for two-bedrooms. A representative for Extell declined to confirm these figures.

Dattner

Of the apartments, 104 will be two-bedrooms. It’s unclear how studios and one-bedrooms will work into the mix, but Lowenstein seemed to indicate that 96 of the apartments would be one-bedrooms, leaving four apartments to be studios.

The building at 229 Cherry Street will be designed by Dattner, as building filings indicate, and replace a Pathmark the development company razed in May 2014. Extell claims its still committed to finding a grocer for the redeveloped site. The building will sit on top of a 107-car garage that, it seems, both One Manhattan Square and 229 Cherry Street tenants will have access to for an extra fee.

The building at 229 Cherry Street will be designed by Dattner, building filings indicate, and Beyond parking, the buildings’ amenities will not cross over. One Manhattan Square’s 100,000-square-feet of amenities, including a tea pavilion and generously sized common terrace, will be accessible to tenants of that building only. In turn, 229 Cherry Street will have its own amenities like bike storage and a top-floor gym and terrace that only residents of the building will be able to use.

• Community Accuses Extell of 'Economic Segregation' in LES [Curbed]
• Extell's Lower East Side Tower Will Have Affordable Little Sister [Curbed]
• All One Manhattan Square coverage [Curbed]