Tall & Urban News

A proposed residential supertall at Site 5 of the World Trade Center in New York City would include 300 below-market value units, as well as office, retail, and community space. Opposition groups are, however, trying to move the project from being 25 percent affordable housing to 100 percent. If achieved, it would outstrip the next tallest affordable housing high-rise in the world by over 100 meters.

The proposed 80-story project at 130 Liberty Street, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, includes 1,200 units, which by some estimates would cost US$1 million to build each due to demands of supertall construction and additional regulatory and specialized workforce requirements on the site.

According to the New York Times, developers said in a statement that in order for the building to make an additional 900 units affordable to make the project completely below-market-rate apartments, the project would require an additional US$500 million in government funding. Those funds, they said, would fund 3,600 affordable housing units in a less expensive market elsewhere in the state. 

The coalition of groups vying to make the project fully affordable housing say costs could be brought down through redesign and a mix of financing mechanisms could be brought to bear to make the building more affordable. 

Developers Brookfield Properties and Silverstein Properties could begin construction in 2023, if approved. The approval process for the project will take at least another year, as the site was originally approved for a commercial building and the variance will require a change to the General Project Plan for Lower Manhattan established after 9/11. It is possible that the project could revert to a commercial building if the fight over the residential proposal drags on. 

For more on this story, go to the New York Times.