Manhattan BP Gives Thumbs Down to Chelsea Market Plan

NEW YORK CITY-Citing concerns over the project’s excessive height and density, Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer said Thursday he’s given conditional disapproval to Jamestown Properties’ planned expansion of Chelsea Market. The Atlanta-based owner/developer is seeking a rezoning of the Special West Chelsea District created in 2005 that would include the proposed Chelsea Market expansion.

“While the potential economic impact of the Chelsea Market expansion will undoubtedly provide a financial benefit to New York City, it must co-exist with, not overwhelm, the local neighborhood,” Stinger wrote in his recommendation on the project. The proposed expansion includes a 230-foot-tall office tower on Tenth Avenue, a 135-foot building on Ninth Avenue and a rezoning that would make the Chelsea Market complex more than 120,000 square feet denser than blocks immediately to the north, Stringer points out.