In 1938, after flying around the world in a record three days, legendary tycoon Howard Hughes Jr. was greeted with a ticker tape parade in Lower Manhattan to mark the triumph. Three-quarters of a century later, David Weinreb — CEO of the eponymous Howard Hughes Corp. — is not getting the same adoring reception. The company has already won approval to revamp the famed South Street Seaport, but its development plans for some of the surrounding sites have generated intense community controversy.
A Dallas-based development firm, Howard Hughes inherited a dozen projects after spinning off from then-bankrupt mall operator General Growth Properties in 2010.
Howard Hughes Corporation —which controls the South Street Seaport proper through a lease with the city, as well as all of the other buildings in the district bounded by John Street, Peck Slip, Water Street and the East River —said it’s investing $1.5 billion for the project in full.
Part of that funding would go toward the already-approved centerpiece of the plan: the redevelopment of Pier 17 into a two-story retail hub with a 10,000-square-foot rooftop venue that’s slated to break ground this year.
But the company is also looking to revamp several of its other sites and to build a 42-story condo tower with which some of the community is less than thrilled.
The most controversial aspect of the plan is the proposed mixed-use tower, located just east of Pier 17 on the edge of the river. The building, which calls for 150 market-rate condo units and a middle school at the base, would rise on the site of the currently uninhabitable New Market Building (part of the former Fulton Fish Market) next to the actual Seaport.
Local residents have criticized the tower’s height, location and design, arguing that it’s out of step with the low-rise historic neighborhood. (Howard Hughes has already agreed to chop the height to 42 stories from 52.)
The firm will also construct a new five-story building with 60 or 70 affordable rental units on Schermerhorn Row, a historic block that formerly housed 19th-century hotels. Weinreb said the number of affordable units, which comes to 30 percent of all the residential units the firm is proposing, is not only more than required to win approval, but is “the highest percentage that any developer has ever offered in affordable housing.”
The master plan also calls for the Tin Building, the other now-uninhabitable former outpost of the Fulton Fish Market directly north of the pier building, to be moved 30 feet to the east and turned into a state-of-the-art food market. In addition, the Link Building, a transitional structure that sits just west of the pier building, would be demolished to make way for a new façade for the Pier 17 building. The plan proposes to widen the esplanade at the pier, constructing a new marina and upgrading the Seaport Museum.
A New York developer, who was EDC president when the city approved the Pier 17 plan, said the redevelopment would vastly improve the South Street Seaport area. The Seaport plan is undoubtedly among the most controversial projects the company has ever tackled.
Despite the community opposition, Mayor Bill de Blasio has not opposed the tower. And Howard Hughes has plenty of supporters, including several Manhattan business groups and high-powered players. Company board members include hedge-fund tycoon Bill Ackman, who went to high school with Weinreb and serves as chair, CBRE’s Mary Ann Tighe, and the Georgetown Company’s Adam Flatto.