Map of proposed Special Hudson Square district. Subdistrict B was eliminated from the proposal. Image Courtesy: DCP.
Community Board urges Trinity to build a new recreation center to accommodate projected population increase. On February 12, 2013, the City Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee held a hearing for Trinity Church’s application to rezone 18 blocks generally bounded by West Houston and Canal Streets, Avenue of the Americas, and Greenwich Street. The Special Hudson Square District will facilitate residential development, maintain commercial office space, and encourage ground-floor retail. Trinity Church owns approximately 39 percent of the lots within the proposed Special District.
The proposal would retain the area’s M1-6 zoning, but would add provisions to allow residential and increased community facility uses. The Special District would establish height limits of 185 feet on narrow streets and 320 feet on wide streets as well as setback regulations. The proposal also includes Subdistrict A (see inset map), which would set a height limit of 430 feet. Subdistrict A would accommodate Trinity Church’s plans to develop a mixed-use development with a 75,000-square-foot, 444-seat public school across from Juan Pablo Duarte Square Park. The maximum floor area ratio would be 10.0 for non-residential uses and 9.0 for residential uses, with a possibility of 12.0 for participation in the City’s Inclusionary Housing Program. The proposal would also establish protective provisions to prevent the permanent conversion of existing commercial space and control hotel development. (See CityLand’s past coverage here).
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Map of proposed Special Hudson Square district. Subdistrict B was eliminated from the proposal. Image Courtesy: DCP.
Trinity Church committed $5.6 million contribution for Dapolito Recreation Center renovations but open space issues remain at City Council. On January 23, 2013, the City Planning Commission approved Trinity Church’s application to create the Special Hudson Square District. The purpose of the Special District is to maintain commercial office space – mainly occupied by creative industries – that has made the Hudson Square neighborhood distinct while encouraging mixed-use development and a vibrant community. The proposal would retain the area’s M1-6 zoning, which permits only commercial, manufacturing and limited community facility uses, but would add and modify zoning regulations aimed to allow residential and increased community facility uses. The area is generally bounded by West Houston and Canal Streets, Avenue of the Americas, and Greenwich Street. Trinity Church owns approximately 39 percent of the lots within the 18-block proposed Special District. (See CityLand’s past coverage here).
The area’s M1-6 zoning currently does not provide building height limits and setbacks, which has led to out-of-character development in more recent years. The Special District would establish height limits of 185 feet on narrow streets and 320 feet on wide streets as well as setback regulations. The maximum floor area ratio would be 10.0 for non-residential uses and 9.0 for residential uses, with a possibility of 12.0 for participation in the City’s Inclusionary Housing Program. The proposal expects approximately 3,000 new residential units will be added to the Special District as a result of the rezoning.
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Boundary map for Special Hudson Square District
Trinity Church proposed that 18 blocks be rezoned to allow residential uses and accommodate the Church’s future development project near Duarte Square. On August 20, 2012, the City Planning Commission certified Trinity Church’s proposal to create the Special Hudson Square District in Manhattan. The Special District would include 18 blocks generally bounded by West Houston and Canal Streets, Avenue of the Americas, and Greenwich Street. Trinity Church controls approximately 39 percent of the lot area within the proposed Special District. The area’s M1-6 zoning permits manufacturing and commercial uses, but prohibits residential uses and does not set maximum building heights. The stated goals of the Special District include permitting the expansion and new development of residential, commercial, and community facility uses while promoting the retention of commercial and light manufacturing uses.
Under the proposal, the area’s underlying M1-6 zoning would remain, but the Special District regulations would permit residential uses, provide incentives to create affordable housing, and establish building height limits and setback requirements to reinforce existing neighborhood character. The Special District would include a residential development goal of approximately 2,200 new residential units. The proposal would also establish two subdistricts with individually tailored regulations in the southern portion of the Special District. (more…)
The Holland Plaza Building, 75 Varick Street, Manhattan. Image Credit: LPC.
Modern classical structure, completed in 1930, was built as part of an industrial development of the area following the opening of the Holland Tunnel. On August 6, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the Holland Plaza Building, at 75 Varick Street in Manhattan, as an individual landmark. The 1930 building was designed by Jacques Ely Kahn, a prolific New York-based architect who was also responsible for the Municipal Asphalt Plant, and the interior of the Film Center Building, both designated as City landmarks. The structure occupies an irregular, triangle-shaped block bounded by Varick, Canal and Watts Streets.
The building stands at 18 stories tall, and is characterized by its stark structural grid.
Developer Abe Adelson, a frequent patron of Kahn’s, commissioned the building. The neighborhood underwent a period of rapid industrial growth when the Holland tunnel, which opened in 1929, made the area a transportation hub. The early Modern building clearly reads as industrial, with little external ornamentation. The building’s style comes from emphasis on its structural grid with its interplay of masonry vertical piers and horizontal textured spandrels, projecting rusticated piers at the pedestrian entrances.
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