The Adams administration has proposed a massive new development for the block currently occupied by the meatpacking coop (the area directly north of the Whitney Museum, bounded by Little West 12th St. on the north, West Street to the West, and Washington Street to the east, and the Whitney museum on the south). The new development will be called “Gansevoort Square.”
The existing two-story brick coop building will be torn down, and would be replaced by a 600 unit apartment tower, along with 11,200 sq/ft of open public space and possibly 45,000 sq/ft of space for the Whitney, the Friends of the High Line, and/or other non-profit organizations.
Very few details are available, and as always the devil will be in the details. The city claims that “up to 300” units of the new housing will be “affordable,” but of course this could end up meaning little or no affordable housing, and “affordable” is not defined. The block will have to be rezoned, since the current zoning does not allow for residential use, and it’s possible that the city might take advantage of the new vastly expanded building heights that would be allowed by the proposed “City of Yes” zoning changes to allow a super-tall building at this site.
A few other thoughts:
The loss of the last meatpacking businesses in the neighborhood is deeply unfortunate. They are the last authentic connection to the area’s history as a wholesale food market, and a beacon of genuinely useful business activity amidst a flood of over-priced luxury restaurants and boutiques.
The Whitney’s lease agreement guarantees them the right of first refusal when and if the space occupied by the meatpacking coop becomes available.
This block is owned by the city, and there is a deed restriction dating back to the donation of the land by the Astor family that basically mandates it must be used for food-related market uses. Presumably the city has figured out a way of removing this restriction.
This is a large block, but conceivably changing the zoning for just this single block might constitute “spot zoning,” which is illegal. Is it possible that the city will use this as an excuse to try to rezone a larger area of the meatpacking district?
Since this land is city-owned, if the city wants to allow residential use why isn’t it pushing for a significantly larger percentage of genuinely affordable apartments? Why
There will be a community review process which will likely start early next year. Whether this process will allow for genuine community input or whether it will simply result in recommendations that are then ignored by the Adams administration and the City Planning Commission remains to be seen. As always, stay tuned.
New York Magazine has an article about this proposal.
And here’s the official announcement touting the development from the Adams administration.