NEW YORK | 495 11th Avenue | 680 + 653 FT | 56 + 55 FLOORS

[Hypothalamus]

City Agrees to Turn NYPD Parking Lot Into 100 Percent Affordable Housing

July 10, 2015
Rosa Goldensohn

HELL’S KITCHEN — A city-owned parking lot at Eleventh Avenue and West 39th Street is on track to become a fully affordable apartment building, the city's Economic Development Corporation confirmed Friday.

The city will put out a request for proposals this summer with its goals for the space, which has been used as an NYPD parking lot for decades. The city's RFP for the space would include commercial and community space in addition to the maximum number of affordable units, according to spokeswoman Kelly Magee.

The local community board had pressed for the permanently affordable building in a May resolution.

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The board also asked for a roof garden, as well as family-sized units and that the building's design "include façade articulation and avoid looking like a dystopian glass box."

Committee Calls for All Affordable Housing at 39th Street Site

March 12, 2015
Evan Bindelglass

Community Board 4's Land Use Committee will soon issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a 25,000-square-foot site at 493 Eleventh Avenue, a city-owned parking lot currently used by the NYPD (and formerly the site of a slaughterhouse).

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As for the size of the building, the committee proposed the building be 450-feet-tall or about 45 stories, which it estimates would hold about 300 units. However, if the retail envisioned for the first and second floors was exempted from FAR (floor area ratio) regulations, the building could potentially be a couple stories taller. Members suggested some level of "façade articulation" so that the building isn't a boring box, as well as a green building with rooftop space open to all residents, a children's playroom, and possibly a computer room.

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