Trinity Church

A lawsuit brought by a parishioner against Wall Street’s Trinity Church parish has shone a light on the value of the church’s assets, which are estimated to be worth more than $2 billion and include a major portfolio of office buildings and mixed-use residential developments, the New York Times reported.

The church controls 14 acres of Manhattan property, the bulk of which is in the trendy Hudson Square neighborhood, where Trinity’s real estate division recently pushed for an upzoning. [more]

Hudson Square

The City Council voted Wednesday to approve the rezoning of Hudson Square in Lower Manhattan. The rezoning will allow developers — including the area’s dominant player Trinity Real Estate — to move forward with several large-scale hotel and residential projects.

As part of the approval process, Speaker Christine Quinn secured a commitment for a vote on landmark status for the adjacent South Village Historic District, according to a statement from Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, a preservation group. But community activists were concerned that the city did not discuss any landmark designations for sites south of Houston Street, which is home to nearly half of the proposed district.  [more]

Hudson Square

Hudson Square moved a step closer today to getting more new housing when two City Council committees approved a controversial proposal by the property arm of Trinity Church to rezone the Lower Manhattan neighborhood, the New York Observer reported.

The zoning and land use committees signed off a plan that would let developers build 2,000 to 3,000 new apartments — many of them affordable — into the neighborhood.  The full council is expected to OK the plan later this month; if the plan gets the nod, the rezoning will take effect immediately.  [more]

From left: 345 Hudson Street and an aerial view of the Hudson Square area, set to be rezoned

iN DEMAND, the entertainment company that pioneered the delivery of video and television content on an “on demand” basis, has renewed its lease for nearly 50,000 square feet at Trinity Real Estate’s s 345 Hudson Street, a representative for the landlord told The Real Deal today. [more]

A view of the manufacturing buildings near Spring and Hudson streets

A City Council hearing on a rezoning of Hudson Square that would make way for new residential development will take place Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported. What has traditionally been a bustling district during the day but a sleepy one after work hours would stand to be rejuvenated by the rezoning. Trinity Real Estate, the area’s largest landlord, intends to build new apartments in the area. The rezoning was approved by the City Planning Commission last month…. [more]

350 Hudson Street

As Trinity Real Estate seeks to transform Hudson Square into a round-the-clock hotspot, the landlord has finalized a lease in the neighborhood with Medidata Solutions, a company that provides cloud-based medical data, the company said today.

Medidata is taking almost 100,000 square feet of space at Trinity’s 350 Hudson Street, according to the statement. The technology firm will take three full floors, as anticipated in previous reports, at the Hudson Square area building. [more]

Hudson Square

Hudson Square, known for its industrial vibe and its media and tech industry tenants, could soon undergo a stylish transformation According to the New York Observer, Trinity Real Estate has begun targeting the fashion industry and with some success.

In recent months designer Thakoon Panichgul took 12,000 square feet of space at 225 Varick Street. Tory Burch and 3.1 Phillip Lim also have offices in the neighborhood. [more]

From left: (Top) William Macklowe and Christopher Schlank, managing partner of Savanna; L&L Holdings President Robert Lapidus and Leslie Himmel, partner of Himmel + Meringoff Properties; (Bottom) Michael Laginestra, vice chairman of CBRE, and Trinity Real Estate President Jason Pizer

Several Manhattan real estate insiders speaking on a panel this morning poured cold water on an ambitious proposal from Mayor Michael Bloomberg to rezone the aging Midtown East business district —with one executive saying it would never be realized and another predicting any impact would not be felt for 10 or 20 years.

Robert Lapidus, president of L&L Holding, which is planning to develop an office tower at 425 Park Avenue in the middle of the proposed zone, predicted Bloomberg’s attempt to spur Midtown East development would ultimately fail or be so watered down as to have little impact. [more]

View of the manufacturing buildings near Spring and Hudson streets

The Department of City Planning today certified a rezoning proposal for the Hudson Square neighborhood that paves the way for residential development, Crain’s reported.  The plan was spearheaded by Trinity Real Estate, the largest landlord in the area bounded by the Hudson River, Sixth Avenue, Houston and Canal streets, in an effort to make the neighborhood a more mixed-use one.

Hudson Square is currently zoned for manufacturing, and the rezoning is meant to preserve some of the existing structures, encourage more open space, while bringing schools and housing to the neighborhood. The goal is to allow for residential development without stifling the influx of tech and new media businesses to the area’s loft-style office space, according to the New York Observer. [more]

From left: Tory Burch and 350 Hudson Street (credit: PropertyShark)

Luxury fashion designer Tory Burch has inked a 10-year lease for 80,000 square feet at 350 Hudson Street in Hudson Square, GlobeSt.com reported. The space encompasses the building’s entire fifth and sixth floors. [more]