Julie Menin, former Chairperson of Manhattan Community Board 1

For Manhattan to remain the vibrant center it is today we need a smart plan for long-term growth. The current land use process leaves communities fearful of being overrun by development that is poorly planned, harmful to communities, and undermines the character of our borough. This is why I have proposed a “Master Plan” for Manhattan to ensure that we grow our borough sensibly.

Cities across the United States are implementing Masters Plans, from booming west coast cities like San Francisco and Seattle to neighboring Newark. A Master Plan is a comprehensive document that outlines long-term neighborhood needs. Downtown Manhattan, for example, is short nearly 1,000 classroom seats, while East Harlem has only 0.3 acres of active open space per 1,000 residents and many of Manhattan’s neighborhoods are almost completely bereft of affordable housing.

Under a Master Plan, developers looking to build in these neighborhoods would be apprised of the community’s needs, bringing more certainty to a convoluted system and ensuring a community’s concerns are accounted for. (more…)

Chelsea Market exterior at 75 Ninth Avenue, Manhattan. Credit: Chelsea Market.

See below for update.

Affordable housing contribution would be used by nearby Fulton Houses if floor area bonus utilized. On October 25, 2012, the City Council’s Land Use Committee approved Jamestown Properties’ modified expansion plan for Chelsea Market at 75 Ninth Avenue in Manhattan. The Market is a complex of 18 different buildings occupying the entire block bounded by West 14th and West 15th Streets and Ninth and Tenth Avenues. A section of the High Line Park cuts through the Market along Tenth Avenue. The expansion would facilitate the growth of Chelsea Market’s creative and media office use, as well as provide financial and practical benefits to the High Line.

The proposed expansion plan includes a 240,000-square-foot office space enlargement for 85 Tenth Avenue and a 90,000-square-foot enlargement at 75 Ninth Avenue for hotel use. The plan also extends the Special West Chelsea District to include the entire Chelsea Market block. The Special West Chelsea District was created in 2005. 2 CityLand 83 (July 15, 2005). The inclusion would facilitate the proposed expansion by retaining the block’s M1-5 zoning designation, and by allowing an increase in the maximum floor area ratio on the site from 5.0 to 7.5 FAR upon Jamestown making a financial contribution to the High Line Improvement Fund. Jamestown also promised to provide the High Line with amenities such as public restrooms and a freight elevator. (more…)

Rendering of Chelsea Market’s proposed Tenth Avenue addition. Courtesy of Jamestown Properties and Studios

Borough president and local community board oppose current plan to build additions to the eastern and western sides of block-long Chelsea Market. On July 25, 2012, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on Jamestown Properties’ expansion plan for Chelsea Market at 75 Ninth Avenue in Manhattan. The Market is a complex of 18 different buildings occupying the entire block bounded by West 14th and West 15th Streets and Ninth and Tenth Avenues and was formerly occupied by Nabisco. A portion of the High Line elevated park runs through the Market’s western edge on Tenth Avenue. The Market provides more than 1.1 million sq.ft. of space for food-related and non-food-related retail and wholesale businesses, along with media and technology companies.

Jamestown’s initial proposal included building a 240,000-square-foot, nine-story office addition on the Tenth Avenue side of the Market, and a 90,000-square-foot, 11-story hotel addition on the Ninth Avenue side of the Market. The nine-story addition on Tenth Avenue would increase the Market’s height from 84 feet to 226 feet. The 11-story addition on Ninth Avenue would increase the tallest portion of that side of the Market from 51 feet to 160 feet. Jamestown did not propose any new development for the mid-block.

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The Hotel Chelsea

Despite opposition concerns, Chetrit Group gained approval to restore landmarked hotel’s facade and build rooftop addition to serve as a lounge. On April 24, 2012, Landmarks approved the Chetrit Group’s revised proposal to carry out exterior renovations and alterations to the landmarked Hotel Chelsea at 222 West 23rd Street in Chelsea, Manhattan. The 1883 Victorian Gothic hotel is notable not only for its architecture, but also for being a former home to a long list of notable artists and writers. Arthur C. Clarke wrote “2001: A Space Odyssey” while at the hotel, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan both memorialized the hotel in songs, and Andy Warhol used the hotel as the setting for his film Chelsea Girls. The Chetrit Group purchased the property in 2011 and plans to restore the hotel’s facade and build a one-story rooftop addition. Hotel Chelsea residents, neighbors, and elected officials opposed Chetrit’s proposal.

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Developer plans to convert West Chelsea warehouse to a pre-K though 12 private school. On October 19, 2011, the City Planning Commission approved Avenues World Holdings LLC’s proposal to convert a ten-story warehouse into a 1,635- seat private K-12 school, known as Avenues: The World School, in West Chelsea. The Cass Gilbert-designed building occupies the western side of Tenth Avenue between West 25th and West 26th Streets, and is within Avthe boundaries of the Special West Chelsea District and the West Chelsea Historic District. The warehouse is across the street from the Elliot- Chelsea Houses and the High Line runs along its western facade.

Avenues World Holdings’ proposal includes adding a rooftop gym and renovating the recessed loading bay docks lining the building’s ground floor along Tenth Avenue. Avenues World Holdings would open the loading bays by removing overhead security doors to create two colonnades and increase circulation space for students. To accommodate the gym’s 25-foot high ceiling, Avenues World Holdings would need to increase the building’s height to 144 feet.  (more…)