The Howard Hughes Corporation (HHC) announced the final approval by the City of New York of its planned $850 million 250 Water St. development project at the Seaport in Lower Manhattan, a key component of HHC’s long-term vision for the historic neighborhood. The 26-story mixed-use project, designed by architecture and urban design firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), will feature residential rental apartments, office, retail and community space. In addition to providing affordable housing, the building, originally planned with a market-rate component consisting of for-sale units, will now offer market-rate residential rental units.
The project will generate $50 million in essential funding for the South Street Seaport Museum, with $40 million generated by the HHC 250 Water St. project and an additional $10 million committed by the City of New York. The 250 Water St. project, which is expected to break ground in 2022, will generate roughly $1 billion in economic impact for the City and State and create more than 3,300 permanent and construction jobs.
HHC has also obtained approval from the city to extend the company’s ground lease for city-owned properties at the Seaport to 99 years, strengthening HHC’s ability to continue to invest in and revitalize the area and demonstrating its confidence in the long-term future of New York City.
“This important project will play a vital role in New York City’s recovery through the creation of a new mixed-income rental building, office space, neighborhood infrastructure improvements, and critical funding to ensure the long-term success of the treasured South Street Seaport Museum,” said Saul Scherl, president of the New York tri-state region for HHC.
Planned for the site of a full-block surface parking lot, the 324-foot-tall building will provide a much-needed gateway to the Seaport and includes approximately 270 apartments above a five-story base with Class A office, retail and community space.
By following the standards and guidelines of the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program, HHC has committed that 20% of the residential floor area comprising at least 70 of the 26-story building’s apartments will be affordable to families earning an average of 40 percent of area median income, or roughly $45,000 for a family of four. Based on the current strength of the local multifamily rental market, HHC intends to develop the building’s market-rate residential units as rental, rather than for-sale apartments as originally proposed.
HHC will begin a comprehensive remediation of the site through the New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program in 2022.
The approval of 250 Water St. and HHC’s lease extension caps a comprehensive public review process during which HHC obtained approvals through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, which included review by Manhattan Community Board 1, the Manhattan Borough President, the New York City Planning Commission and the New York City Council.
