First sign of the tech hub — aka Zero Irving — above ground on 14th Street

Foundation work started last August here on 14th Street at Irving Place ... at the future home of the recently rebranded tech hub.

As you can see, the structure — now known as Zero Irving — is rising above the street level ...



The building, developed jointly by the city’s Economic Development Corp. and RAL Development Services, will top out at 21 floors... featuring Civic Hall, which will offer digital skills for low-income residents, as well as market-rate retail, office space and a food hall.

RAL announced the rebranding back in October. In the news release, the developers describe this as being "in the epicenter of Midtown South."

"This is exactly what we said about this plan, and what we feared — it’s intended to transform our neighborhoods into Midtown South," Andrew Berman, executive director of Village Preservation, told Curbed in a statement back in October. "The zero in 'ZERO IRVING' represents what neighbors and the public got out of this deal, while those who donated generously to the Mayor reap 100 percent of the benefits."



In recent weeks, several EVG readers have noted that the active work site — which sees a steady stream of concrete trucks running in and out of the site — has encroached further onto 14th Street...





In July 2018, during a televised hearing, the reps for the developer promised that all demolition and construction work would be done within the bounds of the property.

The project, championed by Mayor de Blasio and initially announced in early 2017, passed through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Process earlier in 2018, capped off by a unanimous City Council vote — led by local Councilmember Carlina Rivera — in August 2018. A rezoning was required to build the the structure, which is larger than what current commercial zoning allows.

The approval came despite the pleas of some residents, activists, small-business owners and community groups who had long expressed concern that the rezoning necessary for the project would spur out-of-scale development on surrounding blocks.

These concerns have not abated.

Back in the fall, the city released its plan to add a requirement that new hotels in Greenwich Village and the East Village south of Union Square must receive a special permit from the City Planning Commission and City Council in order to be built. Critics of the plan reportedly contend that this may instead speed up the development of office buildings in the neighborhood. The City Planning Commission is expected to sign off on the plan in the weeks ahead before it moves to City Council.

The new building, on the former site of a P.C. Richard & Son, has a completion date for the spring of 2021, per the renderings onsite.