The BroadsheetDAILY – 6/28/22 – New Office Conversion in FiDi to Bring Another Thousand Residents to Lower Manhattan

The Broadsheet – Lower Manhattan’s Local Newspaper

The Line at Starbucks Is about to Get Longer

New Office Conversion in FiDi to Bring Another Thousand Residents to Lower Manhattan

The office tower at the corner of Broad and Beaver Streets is slated for conversion into 571 apartments.

A mostly empty office building in the Financial District is poised for conversion into an apartment building. In a story first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the 1960s-era commercial building at 55 Broad Street (at the corner of Beaver Street) will be converted into 571 apartments by a partnership between developers Larry Silverstein and Nathan Berman, who have paid previous owner Rudin Management $180 million for the structure.

The new owners plan for the entire structure to house market-rate apartments, with no provisions for any affordable units. The 571 apartments planned for 55 Broad Street appear likely to bring more than 1,150 new residents to the community, based on 2020 census data, which indicates that the typical size of a Lower Manhattan household is now 2.02 persons.

Mr. Silverstein has been a prominent real estate player in Lower Manhattan for decades, best know for acquiring a long-term lease on the World Trade Center complex shortly prior to the terrorist attacks off September 11, 2001, and the leading the rebuilding process there. He is also the developer behind 30 Park Place and the owner of 120 Broadway. Mr. Silverstein also recently acquired the former office tower (converted to residential use in 2013) at 116 John Street, from Mr. Berman.

Mr. Berman has been transforming Lower Manhattan office towers for residential use for decades. Among the local properties he has converted are 63 Wall Street, 67 Wall Street, 20 Exchange Place, 70 Pine Street, 443 Greenwich Street, 180 Water Street, and 20 Broad Street.

The venture by Mr. Silverstein and Mr. Berman may signal a renewed interested by developers in acquiring Downtown office buildings at distressed prices (driven by the remote-work trend inaugurated by the COVID pandemic) and repurposing them as residential buildings. This is a tide that has washed over Lower Manhattan at least twice before—once in the 1990s, and again in the years following the destruction of the World Trace Center. That last wave of conversions was mostly halted by the real estate crisis of 2008, which left multiple buildings (some of them only half-finished) in foreclosure, while other development sites have languished as empty lots for more than a decade. That slowdown was deepened by the economic recession unleashed by the pandemic, starting in 2020.

If a new wave of such conversions proves to be imminent, it will raise serious questions for local leaders and policy makers, who will need to consider whether Lower Manhattan’s civic infrastructure—such as schools, parks, healthcare facilities, and transportation capacity—can accommodate thousands of new residents.

In the meantime, the Department of City Planning, in an analysis of 2020 census data, found that the population residing with Community District 1—a collection of neighborhoods encompassing 1.5 square miles, bounded roughly by Canal, Baxter, and Pearl Streets, and the Brooklyn Bridge—has already jumped from 60,978 in 2010 to 78,390 in 2020, an increase of 28.6 percent. At the same time, the population per acre in Lower Manhattan jumped by 34.8 percent, from 60.4 to 81.4 persons. This means that everybody who lives Downtown gets an average of 535 square feet in which to live, shop, commute, and perform every other function of daily urban existence.

Matthew Fenton

Primary Election Q&A

Lower Manhattan Resident Squares Off Against Staten Island Incumbent in Run to Represent State Assembly District 61

Today, voters go to the polls to decide several important party primary contests. The results of these ballots will determine the Democratic and Republican nominees for Governor, and for the State Assembly seat representing Lower Manhattan. The Assembly race consists of two contenders. Charles Fall, the incumbent, lives in Staten Island and has served in Albany since 2019. His challenger, Justine Cuccia, resides in Battery Park City, where she has been an activist, organizer, and member of Community Board 1 for many years.

In order to provide readers with a basis for comparison, The Broadsheet submitted four questions to Mr. Fall and Ms. Cuccia, with a fifth question symmetrically tailored to the backgrounds of the two candidates.

Calendar

Tuesday, June 28

6am-9pm

Some longtime polling sites have changed. Find your polling site here.

10:30am-11:30am

6 River Terrace

Join in on the fun featuring easy-to-follow Latin dance choreography while working on your balance, coordination and range of motion. Come prepared for enthusiastic instruction, a little strength training and a lot of fun. Participants are encouraged to bring their own equipment: weights, water bottle, hand towel etc. Proof of vaccination required. Free.

3:30pm-5pm

Rockefeller Park

Play the popular strategy game while getting pointers and advice from an expert. Chess improves concentration, problem solving, and strategic planning — plus it’s fun! For ages 5 and up (adults welcome). Free.

6pm

Livestreamed

Public session, public hearing, committee reports. Resolutions are presented for vote. Open to all.

Wednesday, June 29

10am-12pm

Rector Park East

Observe and sketch the human figure. Each week a model will strike short and long poses for participants to draw. An artist/educator will offer constructive suggestions and critique. Drawing materials provided, and artists are encouraged to bring their own favorite media.

2pm

Livestreamed

Anyone wishing to participate in the public comment period should submit their comments via email to boardcomment@bpca.ny.gov no later than 5:30pm on the day prior to the meeting. Comments should be no longer than two minutes in length, and may be read into the record during the livestream broadcast.

Agenda:

I.        Call to order

II.      Approval of the May 25, 2022 minutes

III.     Public comment

IV.     M/WBE report

V.      Resiliency update

VI.     Corporate action

A.   Authorization to Accept the 2022-23 Insurance Program and Authorization to Pay the Related Insurance Premiums.

B.    Approval of Increase to Fiscal Year 2022 Spending Authority for External Law Firm Expenses.

VII.   Motion to adjourn

2pm-4pm

Wagner Park

Embolden your artwork amidst the flower-filled and seasonally evolving palette of BPC’s verdant gardens. An artist/ educator will provide ideas and instruction. Materials provided, and artists are encouraged to bring their own favorite media.

6pm-7pm

Rockefeller Park House

Strengthen the body and cultivate awareness in a relaxed environment as your instructor guides you through alignments and poses. All levels are welcome. Bring your own mat.

Thursday, June 30

5:30pm

Pier 17 rooftop

Concert.

CLASSIFIEDS & PERSONALS

Swaps & Trades, Respectable Employment, Lost and Found

To place a listing, contact editor@ebroadsheet.com

Lower Manhattan Greenmarkets

Tribeca Greenmarket

Greenwich Street & Chambers Street

Wednesdays and Saturdays, 8am-3pm (compost program: Saturdays, 8am-1pm)

Bowling Green Greenmarket

Broadway & Whitehall St

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8am-5pm (compost program: 8am-11am)

World Trade Center Oculus Greenmarket

Tuesdays, 8am-5pm

The Outdoor Fulton Stall Market

91 South Street, between Fulton & John Streets

Indoor market: Monday through Saturday,11:30am-5pm

CSA pick-up: Thursday, 4pm-6pm; Friday, 11:30-5pm

Outdoor market: Saturday 11:30am-5pm, May through Thanksgiving

Today in History: June 28

Born today in 1940 in Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus pioneered the concepts of microcredit and microfinance, and founded Grameen Bank. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (jointly with Grameen Bank) in 2006 for “efforts through microcredit to create economic and social development from below.” The Norwegian Nobel Committee said, “lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty.”

1098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosull.

1519 – Charles V is elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

1776 – Thomas Hickey, Continental Army private and bodyguard to General George Washington, is hanged for mutiny and sedition.

1846 – Adolphe Sax patents the saxophone

1914 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo. Their murders lead to World War I.

1919 – The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending the state of war between Germany and the Allies of World War I.

1926 – Mercedes-Benz is formed by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz.

1969 – Stonewall riots begin, marking the start of the gay rights movement.

1981 – A powerful bomb explodes in Tehran, killing 73 officials of the Islamic Republican Party.

2009 – Professor Stephen Hawking hosts a party for time travelers at the University of Cambridge. He sends invitations after the party.

Births

1491 – Henry VIII of England (d. 1547)

1703 – John Wesley, English cleric and theologian (d. 1791)

1902 – Richard Rodgers, American playwright and composer (d. 1979)

1926 – Mel Brooks (Melvin Kaminsky), American actor, comedian and director

1940 – Muhammad Yunus, Bangladeshi banker (Grameen Bank; microfinance; Nobel Peace Prize 2006)

1946 – Gilda Radner, American actress and comedian (d. 1989)

1971 – Elon Musk, South African-American businessman

Deaths

1836 – James Madison, American academic and politician, fourth President of the United States (b. 1751)

1975 – Rod Serling, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1924)

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