New renderings have been revealed for Liberty Landing, an affordable housing conversion and expansion of the former Bayview Correctional Facility at 550 West 20th Street in West Chelsea, Manhattan. Designed by COOKFOX Architects and developed in a joint venture between Camber Property Group and Osborne Association, the $108 million project will involve the repurposing of the 100,000-square-foot Art Deco building and the construction of a seven-story addition atop its parapet. The development will yield 124 permanently affordable housing units, with 74 dedicated to formerly incarcerated individuals, as well as 15 short-term transitional homes for individuals with mental health challenges, on-site supportive services, and a ninth-floor outdoor terrace. The property is located at the corner of West 20th and West Streets, across from Hudson River Park and directly abutting Jean Nouvel’s residential tower at 100 Eleventh Avenue.
The renderings depict the seven-story expansion enclosed in a light brick façade with floor-to-ceiling windows, rounded corners, and capped with a mechanical bulkhead with a matching curved massing.
Rendering courtesy of COOKFOX Architects.
The outdoor terrace will provide panoramic views up and down the Hudson River.
Rendering courtesy of COOKFOX Architects.
COOKFOX’s design also includes an interior courtyard and a 9,300-square-foot community facility with youth-oriented programming. The on-site supportive services will include workforce development programs, family and relationship coaching, living skills training, and nutrition education. The transitional homes will be funded by the State Office of Mental Health.
“Every New Yorker deserves access to safe, stable, and affordable housing,” said Governor Kathy Hochul. “Liberty Landing represents a significant step forward in our efforts to provide inclusive housing opportunities and support to vulnerable New Yorkers. This innovative project will transform a former symbol of incarceration into a beacon of hope, healing, and opportunity.”
“With decades of experience in reentry support, Osborne is expanding its housing portfolio in direct response to the overrepresentation of older adults and LGBTQIA+ people in our jails and prisons and the dearth of housing options for them when they return to the community,” said Osborne Association president and CEO Jon Monsalve.
The former nine-story Bayview Correctional Facility was designed by Shreve, Lamb and Harmon and built in 1931. The building originally housed a YMCA before serving as a detention center for incarcerated women beginning in the 1970s. The structure has sat vacant following floodwater damage to the boilers and electrical systems from Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.
A start and completion date for Liberty Landing has yet to be announced.
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This is so dumb –
No reason at all not to demolish the building. The windows are extremely small – it was a legit jail. No light at all in the units.
Second, this is prime real estate. They should have sold the land and then used the money to build a larger development to house more people in a less expensive neighborhood.
No common sense –
Agree completely!
Wrong location for this facility. Isolated and too far west. No shopping and no transportation. Also at 108mm cost for 124 units equals 870,000 per unit.
This is insane.
You’re absolutely right. West Chelsea (I live here) has a gaping void of services. It’s ridiculous.
The city of opportunity and this is not property offenses, that they are facing future expected: Thanks to Michael Young.
So, one commenter says “prime real estate” and another commenter says “isolated [with] no shopping and no transportation.” It can’t be both! It sounds like y’all are twisting yourselves into knots with “no former prisoners in my neighborhood!” dog whistles. This is a great project supported by the best provider of services to formerly incarcerated persons in the city (if not the country).
I live in Chelsea. This is my neighborhood – This is PRIME real estate – next to multi-million dollar homes. Have you not visited the Highline? This is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in all of NYC.
The cost per home is stupid – they should have sold the land and built more units in a less expensive neighborhood. Also, with the housing lottery changing, the people living in Chelsea don’t have a higher chance of living here anymore. These units are not going to people who live in Chelsea. With the change, there is no benefit for locals.
Dumb project – dumb politicians – this is just irritatingly stupid
I walk past this building – it is ugly!
I completely agree. Ofc it can be both prime and void if retail space. Rich people can hire other people for delivery (both food and grocery)
Excellent project that saves a historic building and provides badly needed housing for our fellow New Yorkers. Bravo!
glad to keep the building……but SELL IT… and put the building BACK on the tax rolls. Use the money to build affordable housing elsewhere ( or heaven forbid just go to New York’s bloated budget)..you could build literally a thousand units upstate in the Boros instead of almost one million a unit here. yes lucky literally lottery winners who get the Apts, but will solve nothing in regards to housing affordability.
I think this is very admirable. To take a publicly owned facility and convert it to housing is one of the few dents (albeit small) that the city can make in order to maintain some socio-economic diversity in housing. Second, it is a very kind adaptive re-use, preserving a significant (though perhaps not historic) architectural element of the area. I’m a big fan of new development and perhaps someday I will get to live in a lovely new RAMSA building (though probably not anytime soon nor perhaps in this life). This project, however, is one small gap the city can attempt to fill. There are not many of these.
Not so simple to convert an old jail into apartments. Completely vacant since 2012 when Hurrican Sandy flooded it. People love the headlines, Affordable Housing! Senior Housing! Transitional Housing! But take no time looking at the details.
Too many people have too many useless issues when it comes to this building. It’s a former jail (yuck) and is a bland building. No harm done.
Yes, I am sure the issue with this development is the greater land value for the city and not the fact that it is a transitional facility in West Chelsea (i.e. NIMBY on YIMBY).