250 Water Street
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| 250 Water Street | |
|---|---|
 Interactive map of the 250 Water Street area | |
| General information | |
| Classification | Residential |
| Coordinates | 40°42′30″N 74°0′10″W / 40.70833°N 74.00278°W |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Skidmore, Owings & Merrill |
| Developer | Tavros |
250 Water Street is a site in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Most recently occupied by a parking lot, the site is being developed into a mixed-use building by Tavros. It has been the subject of various redevelopment proposals since the 1980s. The site is located in the South Street Seaport, one of the city's historic districts.
In the 19th century, a five-story thermometer factory occupied the site.[1] The site also previously held other factories in which work with mercury occurred and a gas station.[2] When the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) established the South Street Seaport Historic District in 1977,[3] local officials had advocated for the LPC to designate 250 Water Street as part of the district.[4] At the time, the site was zoned for high-rise office development, but the New York City Planning Commission had never changed the site's zoning.[4][5] Additionally, the creation of the Seaport district allowed property owners within the district to transfer unused air rights to nearby sites, such as 250 Water Street.[4] By the 1980s, a garage and two-deck parking lot stood on the site of 250 Water Street,[5] which spanned 48,000 square feet (4,500 m2) and covered a whole city block.[4]
Milstein Properties proposals
Milstein Properties purchased the site in 1979 for $5.8 million.[6] Due to the site's location at the edge of the South Street Seaport Historic District, the LPC was required to approve all proposals for the site.[7] Eight proposals by Milstein failed to gain LPC approval.[6] Milstein's failures were likely informed by Milstein's 1981 conversion of the New York Biltmore Hotel to an office building.[8] The hotel had been gutted so rapidly that almost nothing was salvageable,[9][10] and preservationists had been disappointed that Milstein did not preserve the building's Palm Court.[8] Residents of Southbridge Towers, to the north, consistently opposed Milstein's plans for fear that they would lose direct views of the East River directly to the south.[4] There were also persistent concerns over each proposal's floor area ratio (FAR), or the ratio of interior space to land area;[4] the LPC consistently cited the plans' "scale" as a reason for denying these plans.[11]
Milstein's first two proposals for the site were designed by architect Ulrich Franzen.[12][4] The first plan called for a 23-story structure with 944,000 square feet (87,700 m2), but it was rejected due to objections over its high FAR of 18.[4] Franzen's second plan called for a 577,000-square-foot (53,600 m2), 43-story building with a lower FAR of 12;[12] this plan would have included a plain beige-brick tower and a red-brick base blending in with nearby structures.[13] Though the tower would have been narrower than in the previous proposal, residents still opposed it.[12][14] In 1986, Jan Hird Pokorny was hired to design an Art Deco-inspired building,[15] which would have consisted of twin apartment towers with 12 and 30 stories, in addition to a facade blending in with surrounding buildings.[16] Robert Sobel of Emery Roth & Sons submitted a fourth proposal in early 1989, which called for a 14-story office building.[4][17] Despite being smaller than any of the three previous proposals,[18] Sobel's plan was near-universally opposed for being too large.[11] Later in 1989, Milstein hired Platt & Byard to design a 15-story building with 477,000 square feet (44,300 m2).[5] By then, the delays in the development of 250 Water Street had also impacted nearby developments.[19]
The Platt & Byard proposal, designed by Charles A. Platt and Paul Spencer Byard, was approved in 1991; the plans were downsized to a 10-story structure with a mechanical penthouse.[20] Due to a financial downturn, it was never built.[21][22] Yet another proposal was put forth in 1997,[21] which called for twin towers measuring 14 and 30 stories tall.[21][23] The new plans again faced pushback,[21][22] and opponents created an alternative proposal for townhouses measuring 5 to 7 stories tall.[24] Opponents also suggested using the site as a public park with a shaft for New York City Water Tunnel No. 3.[22] Manhattan Community Board 1 voted in favor of downzoning 250 Water Street in 2002,[25][26] imposing a height limit of 120 feet (37 m).[23] An eighth proposal was unveiled in 2003, shortly after mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans to rebuild Lower Manhattan.[27] This proposal, which also faced opposition,[28][26] called for two towers measuring 13 and 24 stories tall.[27][28]