Downtown

Liberty Park

World Trade Center’s Liberty Park Opens Today in the Financial District

The World Trade Center’s Liberty Park is now receiving its finishing touches for its grand opening today. The Financial District’s new, one-acre public park is 25 feet above street level and measures 336 feet along Liberty Street between West and Greenwich streets. It will feature 19 planters, a half-dozen species of plants, seating made out of recycled teak, and a 300-foot-long “Living Wall” of greenery along its northern base. Pictures of it ahead of its opening can be seen in a New York Times report. It will be open to all from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day. Aecom’s Joseph E. Brown is the landscape architect, and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey is behind the project. The Santiago Calatrava-designed St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church can also be seen taking shape on the site’s eastern end. That portion of the project is expected to be complete in 2017. YIMBY last brought you an update on Liberty Park when construction was in its final phases in May.


350 East 10th Street

Five-Story, 225-Unit Student Dorm Conversion Moves Forward at 350 East 10th Street, East Village

Singer Financial Corporation is finally moving forward with redeveloping the long-vacant former P.S. 64 facility at 350 East 10th Street, in the East Village, into a 225-unit student dormitory. The developer recently secured a $44 million loan for the project, dubbed University House, Commercial Observer reported. The 152,000-square-foot building, an individual landmark, will be able to accommodate 535 students for the Cooper Union and the Joffrey Ballet School. Amenities include a fitness center, outdoor terraces, storage for 113 bikes, laundry facilities, a student health center, a private study, a lounge, and a café. TriBeCa-based Curtis + Ginsberg Architects is the architect of record. Redevelopment of the property, acquired in 1999 for $3.15 million, has been in legal limbo for the past few years. Exterior alterations to the building were approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in June of 2013.


Rendering of 125 Greenwich Street. Via Bizzi & Partners Development

New Renderings Confirm 125 Greenwich Street’s Supertall Status

Less than two weeks ago, the foundation was completed for a new mixed-use tower in the Financial District. Now, new renderings are out for the building going up at 125 Greenwich Street, thanks to the eagle-eyed contributors on the YIMBY Forums, and they would appear to confirm a final height exceeding 1,000 feet, given the tower will stand taller than the nearby 977-foot-tall 4 World Trade Center at 150 Greenwich Street.

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252 South Street

New Video Shows 252 South Street’s Impact on the Manhattan Skyline

There are only a few locations outside of Midtown and the Financial District that support supertall (or near supertall) development. The newest such location is the far Lower East Side, where Extell’s 252 South Street, also known as One Manhattan Square, is now rising. While several renderings of the project have been revealed, YIMBY now has a full video of the soon-to-be skyscraper and its impact on the Manhattan skyline, posted on the YIMBY Forums and also on Curbed.

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Water Street Rezoning

City Council Approves Rezoning Proposal Allowing Pedestrian Arcade-to-Retail Conversions Along Water Street, Financial District

Earlier this week, the City Council voted to approve a rezoning proposal that would allow landlords of the commercial properties with public pedestrian arcades along Water Street, between Fulton and Whitehall streets in the Financial District, to convert the arcades into retail space in exchange for renovating adjacent public plazas. The total amount of space that could be converted spans 110,000 square feet across 20 buildings, DNAinfo reported. The rezoning requires retail conversions of greater than 7,500 square feet to be approved through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). It also limits the amount of street frontage chain banks and drugstores can take up, and requires the entire height of the arcade to be built out. Future renovations to the existing public plazas in the area could include new seating and planters, among other upgrades.


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