Construction is nearing completion on 537 West 59th Street, a nine-story homeless shelter in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan. Designed by Dattner Architects and developed by The Hudson Companies and Project Renewal, a non-profit that offers housing and services for the homeless, the 98-foot-tall structure will yield 44,845 square feet of community facility space with 200 beds for single women in dorm-style rooms. The project with Broadway Builders as the construction company, will also include a 1,500-square-foot medical clinic, Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) office space, an 800-square-foot commercial kitchen, a library, and programming space for social services and recreation. The property is located on an interior lot between Amsterdam and West End Avenues.
Almost the entire exterior of tan brick and recessed rectangular windows has been installed since our last update in June 2024, when the reinforced concrete superstructure had recently topped out and stood fully exposed. The hoist has been dismantled from the main southern elevation but some scaffolding remains on the two-story podium, where façade installation is still progressing.
537 West 59th Street. Photo by Michael Young.
537 West 59th Street. Photo by Michael Young.
537 West 59th Street. Photo by Michael Young.
537 West 59th Street. Photo by Michael Young.
537 West 59th Street. Photo by Michael Young.
537 West 59th Street. Photo by Michael Young.
The property was formerly occupied by a two-story commercial structure, as seen in the following Google Street View image from before its demolition.
537 West 59th Street on Manhattan’s Upper West Side via Google Maps
The renderings in the main photo and below show the podium clad in a more textural brick and topped with a terrace featuring a trellis. Climbing vegetation is depicted covering the eastern wall of the podium alongside the pathway to the main entrance.
Rendering courtesy of Dattner Architects
The building will also include a cellar level and a 20-foot-long rear yard.
The nearest subways from the property are the A, B, C, D, and 1 trains at the 59th Street–Columbus Circle station to the east.
537 Wes 59th Street’s anticipated completion date has not been posted on site, though YIMBY expects work to finish in early 2026.
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This is certainly a needed facility, however, homelessness and mental health issues go hand in hand. I hope some medical facility is provided or is nearby.
Absolutely right, ironically, this neighborhood is loaded with world class hospitals, HSS, Mount Sinai and others are just up the block..but they don’t exist for the people in this shelter, but that has to change..
So you want even more tax payers’ money for those people? How did nearly 1B spent by the former mayor’s wife go for those?
Not sure why they keep building homeless shelters, drug shelters, mental health, immigrant centers in some of the most expensive zip codes in the world.
Because even in great cities like New York bad things in life happen and people need help. I’ve been there, homeless after I lost my home in a natural disaster. I was severely ill and disabled. NYC and it’s shelter system saved my life. I’m securely housed on the UWS going on 4 years now. Some of my neighbors probably feel as you do that I don’t belong here but many more I think are just happy to see me prospering.
You are totally missing the point. Why UWS? Can be upstate NY or Albany or somewhere cheaper and it can be equally effective, if not more
Totally, the money could help many more people if it were built in a cheaper area
That’s exactly why, my man.
Surreal, but powerful photos by Michael Young of this shelter in the middle of of a forest of luxury towers, I wonder if the kitchens there have ‘name brand appliances’?
This is an excellent project for so many people in desperate need for housing. Many homeless people simply couldn’t afford their increasing rent, and once you don’t have an address, finding a job and affording a new place is nearly impossible. And we can thank Reagan and the Rs for cutting federal funding to mental institutions which is when homelessness (think bag lady) became such a immoral, ongoing tragedy to this day.
the average, tax-paying person in NYC cannot afford it too
There are many reasons for homelessness. Stop blaming that wonderful man.
My cereal just shot out my nose.
how do you know that man is a wonderful man? Who doesn’t need affordable housing in NYC? Is his tax contribution net positive after those 4 years? If not it’s just permanent drain on the tax payers money
I wonder – could they have made it any uglier?
They don’t build homeless shelter in regions with cheap land prices because nobody lives there. There’s no need that exists in those areas. Humans tend to congregate and base their lives in places that have opportunities. When they suddenly find themselves in need of shelter and lack the means of obtaining it, the facilities that society provides for these situations needs to be accessible to those who are experiencing this situation. The burden of accessing transportation to a facility 100+ miles away would probably discourage a large percentage of said individuals from even considering such a resource.
Sometimes I think the “sin” of modern society is avarice. Nobody is willing to share their ————— anymore.
feel free to share your resources, but it’s another thing to force tax payers foot the bill
Taxes should be used to help people.
who doesn’t need help in NYC? lol I would love to get help with my rent too.
I agree, all rent should be subsidized.
the sense of entitlement knows no bounds.
Note that is is not affordable housing, its warehousing troubled folks who will bring all their mental and drug problems to this community.
To admit the negative effect of these facilities not the surrounding communities is naive at best. Just more virtue signaling and millions of taxpayer dollars that will not solve any problem but will create many more.
When have cholos ever helped people?
if you want to help those, use your own money instead of taking it from normal tax payers like me
If you’re posting on here, then you are not normal lol