City Issues RFP on Massive Lower East Side MXD

NEW YORK CITY-The New York City Economic Development Corp. and the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development on Wednesday issued a request for proposals on Seward Park, the Lower East Side parcel that will see up to 1.65 million square feet of mixed-use development. The plan for the site, which is the largest undeveloped municipal-owned parcel in Manhattan, includes as many as 1,000 housing units, half of which will be permanently affordable.

Along with the affordable housing requirement, the RFP stipulates a 60/40 mix of housing and commercial space. It also calls for 15,000 square feet of publicly accessible open space and for setting aside land that might accommodate a school in the future.

Further, the Seward Park rezoning approved this past October expands and relocates the Essex Street Market to the southeast corner of Delancey and Essex streets. The idea is to accommodate current as well as new vendors in a more efficient facility, which could double the number of small businesses now operating at the market. One or multiple developers may be selected to develop any or all of the sites within the Seward Park rezoning; the city expects to make its selection by year's end. Proposals must be submitted by Monday, May 6. For more information and to download the RFP, click here.

It was in July 1965, during the mayoralty of Robert F. Wagner Jr., that the Seward Park Extension Urban Renewal Area was created with a plan for commercial and housing development. Demolition began on the sites two years later. Although portions of the plan were implemented, five sites have remained undeveloped and are used mainly for surface parking, according to the EDC.

“There were several attempts to develop the remaining SPEURA sites over the years, but the proposals failed to move forward generally due to a lack of consensus on the best use of the sites,” according to the EDC. “The SPEURA plan expired on July 22, 2005, 40 years after its adoption.”