NEW YORK CITY-The New York City Department of City Planning certified New York University’s special permit and zoning map for its “core” NYU 2031 plan late Jan. 3, marking one of the first steps needed for the school to expand its academic and commercial footprint in the West Village. The plan, which still requires multiple city approvals under the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, would allow the university to develop approximately 1.3 million square feet in four buildings across an NYU-owned superblock on West 3rd Street, West Houston Street, Mercer Street and LaGuardia Place.
“Strong universities are important to the city’s economic future, and keeping them strong requires space for teaching, learning, and research,” says Lynne Brown, a senior vice president at NYU, in a prepared statement after the vote. “The NYU Core plan calls for collaboration with stakeholders and the city in an effort to bring clarity of design and purpose to our university-owned superblocks. The certification of this project is the first of many steps towards reaching this goal and we’re looking forward to continuing this dialogue as we move through the ULURP process.”
If the plan reaches final approval, phase I of construction will involve the development of an 800,000-square-foot “zipper” building with ground floor retail, academic space, student and faculty housing, a below ground gym and hotel space, GlobeSt.com previously reported. In addition, NYU acquired land on the corner of Houston and Bleecker streets for $23 million to build a K-8 public school that will be donated to the New York City School Construction Authority, which currently houses a Morton Williams Supermarket. Within the same building, a 190-unit dormitory will be constructed above with a separate entranceway.
During phase II—spanning 2022 to 2031—the university would construct a 14-story, 250,000-square-foot academic building on Mercer Street and an eight-story academic building on LaGuardia Place. Throughout the development, nearly half of the space for the superblocks will be below grade, the university previously stated.
The school also proposes to create a 60,000-square-foot interior courtyard, a new playground on the corner of LaGuardia Place and Bleecker Street, installing a tricycle garden on the corner of West 3rd Street and Mercer, and increasing public open space by 130,000 square feet.
The university is also seeking a parkland designation for green spaces at the edge of two Washington Square superblocks along LaGuardia Place and Mercer Street. The designation, the university previously stated, would allow NYU to build entirely on its existing footprint with no up-zoning or displacement of tenants while ensuring that the parkland—or DOT strips—remain as open space in perpetuity.
At the same time, opposition to the project is mounting. The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, a local nonprofit devoted to preserving the history and character of the Village, is holding a town hall meeting with the Community Action Alliance on NYU 2031 and Greenwich Village Block Associations at the AIA, 536 LaGuardia Pl., between Bleecker St. and W. 3rd St. at 6:30 p.m. tonight.
Described by the group as the “largest proposed development in the Village since Robert Moses’ days,” the GVSHP strongly opposes the NYU 2031 and is urging Manhattan’s Community Board 2 to vote no on the plan at upcoming meetings. “Its impact will be felt not just in the immediate area, but throughout the Village and surrounding neighborhoods,” says Andrew Berman, executive director at GVSHP, in a newsletter. “We only have one chance to stop it.”
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