De Blasio administration says new health care facility will make up for Rivington blunder

The project will also house more than 100 seniors

Rivington House, Bill de Blasio and 30 Pike Street (credit: Google Maps)
Rivington House, Bill de Blasio and 30 Pike Street (credit: Google Maps)

The city plans to build a new affordable housing development and health care facility to make up for the embarrassing and politically consequential loss of the Rivington House.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday that his administration will issue a request for proposals to transform 30 Pike Street into a home for 100-plus seniors and a health care facility. The building — which is less than a mile away from the Rivington House — is currently owned by the Department of Environmental Protection. He said the project will require an investment of more than $16 million — the sum the city received for lifting the deed restriction on the Rivington House for then-owner the Allure Group.

“Rivington House’s conversion to luxury housing never should have happened,” de Blasio said in a statement. “This community was the victim of a broken process, City error and unscrupulous developers looking to make a buck.”

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The mayor’s announcement follows one by First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris that affordable housing was being added to the Lower East Side, the Lo-Down reported. During a public oversight hearing earlier in the day, Shorris said the new development was intended to make up for the loss of the Rivington House.

After receiving the deed restriction, Allure sold the property to developers Slate Property Group, Adam America and China Vanke for $116 million. The developers announced plans to February to turn the 150,000-square-foot property into 100 luxury condominiums.

In August, city Comptroller Scott Stringer issued a report that slammed the city “a lack of vigilance” that allowed the Allure Group to get the deed restriction lifted at a far lower cost than it was worth. [The Lo-Down] — Kathryn Brenzel