Design and Construction Report staff writer
A Request for Proposals (RFP) was released this week for the transformation of a New York City-owned site into a significant mixed-income residential building, expected to provide more than 1,000 mixed-income units with a minimum of 25 percent required to be affordable.
The current building — located at 100 Gold Street in Lower Manhattan — houses several city agencies including HPD and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS). Proceeds from the projects will be used to relocate the building’s existing older adult center — which was built in the 1960s — into a new, updated facility for residents. Finally, city agencies currently in the building will be receiving new office space.
“This project is critical to addressing the city’s lack of affordable housing, while at the same time improving the working environment of the many civil servants currently employed there, including members of Local 211,” said Matthew Gugliotta, president and business manager, Allied Building Inspectors Local 211 IUOE. “By transforming this older city-owned building into desperately needed housing for the community, it also provides the city the opportunity to find new office space that will meet the current and future needs of our members and the public that they serve.”
100 Gold Street is situated at the corner of Gold Street and Frankfort Street and borders Spruce Street in the Financial District on the east side of Lower Manhattan. It is located on an approximately 95,000 square foot rectangular lot with frontage on two streets: Gold Street on the northwest side and Frankfort Street on the northeast side.
Proposals are due by June 5. A virtual information session is scheduled for March 19th, 2025. Visit EDC.nyc for more information on the public information session and details on how to apply.
The area is in the heart of Lower Manhattan at the intersection of multiple neighborhoods, each with its own historic, aesthetic, and cultural attractions. The Financial District offers a short commute on foot to many office buildings as well as a thriving hospitality, retail, and dining culture. Additionally, the site is well-served by ample public transit, including 13 subway lines, the PATH train, and the New York City Ferry.
“To tackle the affordable housing crisis, our city needs to look everywhere and anywhere to build housing that New Yorkers need, including in our own city office space,” said Mayor Adams. “That’s why we are looking at 100 Gold, the home of countless city agencies to build more affordable housing. The affordable housing crisis requires all of us, including government, to play their part and we are proud to do just that, utilizing our city-owned space to be part of the solution.”
Proceeds from the sale of the city-owned site will be used to acquire relocation space for the New York City agencies currently tenanting the commercial building. After the sale, the city will require the developer to provide a temporary leaseback period, during which the city will complete a full relocation of agency operations.
NYCEDC will seek to leverage the value of all remaining sale proceeds after relocation to provide additional public benefits, including affordable housing. This project simultaneously addresses the housing crisis and the existing tenants’ needs for improved working conditions without public subsidy. Since the existing building is unsuitable for conversion and in need of significant capital repairs, it is anticipated that the selected developer will need to demolish the existing building.
A competitive response to this RFP must describe a plan to accomplish the following goals and create a financially feasible development:
- Housing Production: Create high-quality housing, including income-restricted affordable housing, that delivers on the needs of the community and the city more broadly, maximizing the development potential of the site.
- Enhance the Public Realm: Create a welcoming, vibrant public realm that smoothly integrates new development into neighborhood context and provides a thoughtful ground-floor retail and/or community facility space.
- Advance Sustainability: Make progress toward the city’s sustainability, energy efficiency, carbon neutrality, and resiliency goals.
- Support Community Development: Responsibly develop the project to advance goals of creating quality construction and building service jobs while adhering to applicable wage standards and labor protections.
- Support City Space and Services: Sales proceeds must, at a minimum, provide sufficient funding to relocate city agencies tenanting the existing building on the site. NYCEDC will seek to leverage all remaining value generated from the project to provide public benefits, including additional affordable housing.
