Residential Tower to Replace Parking Lot in New York City Historic District

A rendering of the proposed tower at 250 Water Street, as seen from the Brooklyn Bridge. (Credit: The Howard Hughes Corporation/Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill)

05 May 2021 | New York City, United States

New York City landmarks commissioners approved a plan to replace a 50-year-old parking lot between Water and Pearl streets in downtown Manhattan with a brick and stone tower. The project would bring 270 residential units over 25 stories to the South Street Seaport Historic District.

This has been the first project to win approval after decades of competing proposals from a variety of groups, all with the stated goal of preserving Seaport’s character, known for its 200-plus-year-old Federal and Georgian style brick buildings which top out around five stories.

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The proposed tower, from the Howard Hughes Corporation, a Texas-based development firm, would include 70 affordable units, and the project would provide an endowment for the South Street Seaport Museum, which anchors the area to its maritime history.

The Landmarks Preservation Committee voted 6-2 to approve the project after changes were made to accommodate the committee’s requests. The new designs reduced the overall height of the building’s residential tower, which rises over Water Street, from 105 to 99 meters (345 to 324 feet), and adjusted the facade and height of the base of the building running along cobblestoned Beekman Street on the Seaport side. The initial design also included two towers instead of one, with an initially proposed 360 units.

Jessica Lapin, the president of the Alliance for Downtown New York, the Financial District’s business improvement district, said that the latest designs showed that the developers were being responsive to the commission’s concerns.

“This will really take what has been a blight on the neighborhood, really, and transform it into something positive and save the Seaport at the same time,” she said.

Yet opponents of the project decried the commission’s decision as potentially setting a precedent that would allow tall towers to be built in historic areas.

The project still has to go through the city’s Unified Land-Use Review Process, though the spokesperson for Hughes said that the project is not seeking a zoning change.

For more on this story, go to Spectrum News NY1.