Getting to know — Essex Crossing

[Flyer spotted on 6th and B]

There's a community presentation tonight at 6 for anyone interested in learning more about Essex Crossing, the 1.9 million square feet of residential, commercial and community space coming to the Lower East Side once of these days.

The meeting is at the Grand Street Settlement, 80 Pitt St. between Rivington and Stanton.

You can read more about the mega-peject at The Lo-Down … BoweryBoogie … and Curbed.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A 14-screen Regal Cinemas theater with electronic reclining seats coming to the LES (30 comments)

A 14-screen Regal Cinemas theater with electronic reclining seats coming to the LES

Crain's has the story on the first tenant for Essex Crossing:

The theater chain, owned by Regal Entertainment Group, will take 65,000 square feet in the base of a 315-foot-tall rental apartment building to be built at 115 Delancey St., on the southeast corner of Essex Street. Construction is expected to begin in the spring and be completed by late 2017 or 2018.

The lease, which stretches for 15 years, is the first signed for the 1.9 million-square-foot development known as the Seward Park mixed-use development project.

The multiplex will stand at the corner that long housed the Olympic Restaurant and Jade Fountain liquor store.

[EVG file photo]

The Lo-Down got a copy of the official Regal news release. Among the theater amenities:

• Recliners for every guest to provide more room, comfort and true luxury.
• Each recliner has an electric control for multiple positions and features padded footrests.
• Digital projection in every auditorium to provide a crystal-clear picture.
• Real D 3D projection systems available for 3D enhanced presentations.
• Stadium seating provides each moviegoer a clear view of the screen.

Have you seen the plans for SPURA?

In case you didn't see all the hoopla announcements yesterday about "Essex Crossing," the $1.1 billion plan for that decades-long vacant lot along Essex and Delancey (The Seward Park Urban Renewal Area, aka SPURA).

And if it all happens, the area might look like this one day ...



According to the news release from the Mayor's Office:

[T]he project ... includes a 15,000-square-foot open space, a new and expanded Essex Street Market, a dual-generation school operated by the Educational Alliance, a community center run by Grand Street Settlement, a rooftop urban farm, the Andy Warhol Museum, 250,000 square feet of office space and a diverse mix of retail space. Seward Park will also become a hub of small-business incubation, with micro-retail spaces and creative and tech co-working and incubator space.

Not to mention a bowling alley.



As for the housing, of the 1,000 apartments, half will be permanently affordable to low- and middle-income families and individuals.

There are many outlets that have been covering this. Such as!

• BoweryBoogie

• The Lo-Down

• Curbed

• Gothamist

• The New York Times

And the timelines for all this? From Gothamist:

Groundbreaking on the project is expected to begin in the spring of 2015, with five buildings slated to come up by the summer of 2018, the remaining housing units finished by 2021. The entire project will be finished by 2024 — that is, unless a different mayor steps in.

Reminders: SPURA review hearings today

A last-minute reminder in the EV Grieve inbox ... edited a bit...

[via The Lo-Down]

The City of New York is continuing its discussions and decisions regarding the SPURA site on and near Delancey and Essex Streets. There will be two sessions today at which people can again speak out on behalf of preserving (or not) the historic Essex Street Market, which remains an option for CB3's recommendation to the city (see David McWater's draft testimony here).

Today's public scoping — specifically to hear comments from the public — is divided into two timeframes: 3 to 5:30 pm and again at 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. You may come and speak at either session for up to 3 minutes and/or you can submit written comments about the Draft Scope of Work for an Environmental Impact Study of the SPURA project (now known as "The Seward Park Mixed-Use Development Project"), or specifically about keeping the current Essex Street Market intact, in its historic location.

More information here.

University Settlement's Speyer Hall
184 Eldridge Street, Second Floor

Read more on this issue at The Lo-Down .... and BoweryBoogie ... who have following the story...

Express support for affordable housing in our neighborhood

The following was sent by Rob at Save the Lower East Side!

Tomorrow is the deadline for community comment submissions (send to spura@cb3manhattan.org) on SPURA — the largest vacant land area south of 96th Street — a rare opportunity for the creation of affordable housing, and a part of Bloomberg's plan to create or preserve 165,000 affordable units, including 60,000 new units to be created. How many of these 60,000 new units SPURA will contribute depends in part on what our community says.

CB3 is currently working toward a plan of 800 affordable units, and a total residential ratio of 50 percent market-rate to 50% non-market-rate. The non-market-rate housing will comprise
20 percent low-income housing,
20 percent moderate (<$100,000 income) & middle income (<$130,000 income) housing, and 10 percent senior housing. In other words, the CB plan, if built, would result in at least 1,600 residential units, about the size of one EV block of six story tenements. Whether the city will respect the community agreement is an open question. Look at what happened to Atlantic Yards. The area stands in Sheldon Silver's district, and he has not yet commented.

The city, however, seems strongly committed: the city needs the revenue from the sale of the land, the residential and commercial taxes and residential disposable income that development will bring, as well as add to the legacy of the mayor, who has made affordable housing a goal. But before the city can move forward, it needs an agreement from the CB, as a first step. So now is the moment to express support for affordable housing in Manhattan.

The current CB3 plan is here.

Send your comments to spura@cb3manhattan.org