A rendering of the proposal for 46-74 Gansevoort Street as seen from the Whitney Museum of American Art. All renderings courtesy BKSK Architects.

Architects Tout Gansevoort Market Plan As Return to History

In November, a plan for a commercial revitalization of the south side of a block of Gansevoort Street, in the Meatpacking District, went before the Landmarks Preservation Commission. In a rare, but hardly unheard of occurrence, the hearing was paused before the commissioners could discuss the proposal. With the continuation of that session likely to come soon, YIMBY sat down with the architects behind it to talk about its place in the history of the area.

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301 Covert Street in March 2015, photo by Christopher Bride for PropertyShark

Permits Filed: 301 Covert Street, Bushwick

A cluster of cemeteries at the eastern edge of Bushwick has marked the border of gentrified Brooklyn for years, but development in the area is starting to push that border closer to East New York. A developer based in South Williamsburg has submitted plans for a five-story building at 301 Covert Street, mid-block between Irving and Knickerbocker avenues.

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S.S. United States

Inoperative SS United States To Be Renovated Into 400-Suite Luxury Cruise Ship

Last fall, news surfaced that the 990-foot-long SS United States, a decommissioned 12-deck passenger liner built in 1952 and which set a trans-Atlantic that stands to this day, could be docked in Red Hook and transformed into a office and entertainment complex. The latest proposal now calls for a restoration of the vessel into an 800-passenger luxury cruise ship fit with 400 suites, according to the New York Times. Crystal Cruises would lead the ship’s makeover, which would cost between $700 to $800 million, about the cost of a newly built cruise ship of similar size. The company can also take the option to purchase the ship from SS United States Conservancy. The revived ship is tentatively expected to make its first voyage from New York in 2018. The ocean liner currently contains toxins that may complicate the renovation if the Environmental Protection Agency gets involved.


213 Van Vorst Street

Foundation Work Begins For 15-Story, 255-Unit Mixed-Use Building At 213 Van Vorst Street, Jersey City

Early in 2015, the Jersey City Planning Board approved plans for two 15-story mixed-use buildings at 193 and 213 Van Vorst Street, in the Paulus Hook neighborhood of Jersey City. Now, HFF has secured for the developers, Global Real Assets and Fields Development Group, $63.5 million in financing for the first phase of the project, according to REBusinessOnline. The first phase at 213 Van Vorst Street will have 255 residential units, which will come in one-, two-, and three-bedroom configurations, and two ground-floor retail units totaling 7,237 square feet. The second building will include an additional 153 residential units and 7,305 square feet of ground-floor retail. Pile driving and foundational construction on the first building began last January, per Jersey Digs, and completion is expected in 2017. Marchetto Higgins Stieve is the design architect.