After years of talk, the city is ready to tear down NYCHA’s Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea houses and replace them with 2,000 new apartments, an urgently needed move that could point the way forward for New York’s crumbling supply of public housing.
While city officials wait for the federal government’s green light to begin the work, the project’s price tag is rising rapidly.
It’s now expected to cost $1.9 billion to redevelop the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea houses, according to a presentation given to Manhattan Community Board 4 in October. The price has probably risen further considering that last month the cost of iron and steel jumped by 4%, a rate the trade group Associated Builders and Contractors described Thursday as “particularly fast.” The $1.9 billion estimate marks a 25% increase over a forecast made in 2023.
Am I reading it correctly that they are replacing 2,056 current units with 2,000 or is it 2,000 on top of the existing amount of 2,056? If its the former then that seems short sighted, if anything it should be 4,000 units plus.
edit- scrolling back a bit this stood out to me.
-Roughly 3,500 new mixed-income apartments, including approximately 875 new affordable apartments, will be added to the campuses.
The article states as follows:
And the new development will include 3,500 market-rate apartments, allowing Essence and Related to charge rents that reflect the area’s high demand. Chelsea market rents aren’t modest: one listing advertises studio to two-bedroom units starting at $5,850 a month, a range that Adams confirms is realistic for the planned units. Many nearby apartments, listed at $12,000 a month on Zillow, illustrate the potential for high returns.
Great! NYC’s housing projects have to be renovated/redeveloped/recladded etc etc. All of them.
I just wish there were some setbacks from the 9th Ave streetwall.
There should be no additional parking at NYCHA properties. So many projects have valuable real estate taken up by surface parking lots.
I never understood why NYCHA even had parking built, car ownership isn’t exactly cheap. I especially love almost getting run over by a BMW coming out of a NYCHA garage.
they can afford cars cause they pay $100 for rent lol
LOL, thats true
Parking was a federal blanket rule for all of these kinds of housing projects across the nation when they were being built. Not great. My ex lives in HUD senior housing and cars are not considered an asset when determining income so you could inherit and buy an expensive car or get one from off the books income and still qualify.
ah, thanks for the information.
Diana Chew, another Chelsea Addition resident, said she was mugged multiple times when she lived in a regular NYCHA building, before she moved into the seniors-only building. She said she feels safer where she lives now.
“We all love living here because all the facilities are designed for seniors,” she said. “Now, the developer wants to move us to a regular building, but it’s neither safe nor convenient, so we don’t want to move.”
So far, 28 of the 79 Chelsea Addition households have agreed to relocate, according to Ana Hall, a spokesperson for the developer, Essence. Hall said senior residents will be placed in the first few floors of one of the new buildings once construction is completed, but the building will not be just for seniors.
Jamar Adams, CEO of Essence, said he’s been speaking with senior residents about their safety concerns. He said Essence is exploring hiring additional security or installing Ring cameras to enhance surveillance and prevent break ins once they move to the general-population public housing.
“We’re evaluating all levels of security,” Adams said. “We want to ensure that they feel safe as much as we can.”
The city really needs to plan for the future of public housing. The existing stock is a blight throughout the city. Hopefully this redevelopment is successful and becomes a model for how other “projects” can be redeveloped and woven back into the fabric of the city.
They will only do this in desirable parts of town. I’m not necessarily against it.
Gotta start somewhere…