The City Planning Commission of New York has granted approval to a 50-year-old initiative to develop a site of lower Manhattan. The Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (SPURA) plan will transform the underperforming site into a vibrant area of the city, planners say.

The plan calls for the construction of a mixed use development, a street market, a hotel and a park on what is now basically a parking lot.

The site was cleared in the 1960s, according to ArchDaily, but due to the lack of successful proposals has lain dormant since.

"The plan was approved by the Community Board under the agreement that 50% of the 900 units be made permanently affordable…In addition, the Borough President approved the plan as long as it ensured that a school would be integrated into the development along with restrictions set in place to keep big-box retail stores out," Arch Daily reports.

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