NEW YORK CITY—Governor Andrew Cuomo Monday revealed plans to redevelop the former Bayview Correctional Facility in Chelsea into the Women's Building, a new global hub for the girls' and women's rights movement, on behalf of the NoVo Foundation.
Located across from Chelsea Piers at 550 W. 20th St., and valued at up to $200 million, the building spans about 120,000 square feet. The NoVo Foundation—one of the largest private foundations in the world to support initiatives focused explicitly on girls and women—will enter a long-term lease of up to 99 years at the property.
The revamped building will feature office space for women-focused activists, organizations, events and programs; anticipated community spaces such as a female adolescent wellness clinic and public atrium; a ground-floor art gallery and restaurant; and commercial tenants in technology and creative-focused industries. It is being redeveloped by the Goren Group, a woman-owned firm.
Originally designed in 1931 as a YMCA for merchant sailors, Bayview is characterized by its distinctive masonry work, terra cotta detailing, and nautical references. Goren will work with the New York State Historic Preservation Office to preserve and restore historical elements of the building.
”Today we are continuing our efforts to shatter the glass ceiling by taking down an institution of defeat and turning it into opportunity and social reform for women,” says Governor Cuomo. “The Women's Building is an example of our strength and leadership as the capital of progressivism in this nation – and when other states and look to New York, they will see yet another symbol of a community coming together to enhance the future and potential of its people.”
Adds Lela Goren, founder and president of Goren Group, Housing 'the Women's Building' in a former women's correctional facility will make a profound statement about where New York State has come from and what it and its citizens aspire to achieve. Women's rights organizations have practical needs and inspirational needs, and this adaptive re-use project will provide all of that for them. This historic rehabilitation will shape the next chapter of this building's history."
She continues, "Throughout the development process, we have a significant intention to engage as many women as possible, in every role and at every level, with a goal of 100% participation. To meet this ambitious and historic goal, we will nurture talent, provide training, create apprenticeships and promote qualified women to supervisory roles.”
Asserts famed women's rights advocate Gloria Steinem, “New York receives so many women leaders from other states, countries and continents yet they have no central place to visit. This building will unite them."
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
