A scruffy Chelsea corner, now home to a Mc Donald's, community tennis club, and Gristedes, will soon be revitalized with a 200-unit mixed-income apartment building. Affordable housing cooperative Penn South announced this week that it has paired up with MAG Partners to redevelop 335 Eighth Avenue into a seven-story residential building with retail at its base.
Penn South, also known as Mutual Redevelopment Houses, opened in 1962. The housing complex covers an area bounded by Eighth and Ninth avenues from West 23rd to 29th Streets and includes 15 buildings offering nearly 3,000 below-market-rate units. The proposed new building joins the ensemble and will add 200 housing units to the bunch, 30 percent of which will be made affordable for low-and-middle-income New Yorkers, as well as a grocery store. MAG Partners will develop and operate the building under a long-term ground lease.
MAG selected COOKFOX to lead design on the new building which, according to a press release, will “bridge the historical character of Chelsea, mid-century visions of urban living and contemporary aspirations for a new building that supports sustainable and healthy living.”
Ambur Nicosia, president of the Penn South co-op board, said in a statement: “The top priority for the Board of Directors is to preserve the affordability of Penn South for current residents and future generations. We needed a solution that does not require our shareholders to pay major increases in monthly maintenance fees. The stores are supposed to subsidize the apartments, not the other way around.”
“I am pleased that we found a partner who will help us achieve these key objectives through the development of a new building that is contextual and appropriate to the surroundings.”
Construction is slated to start in 2022.
- Chelsea (Urbanize NYC)