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.
The largely commercial Hudson Square area is represented by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who supports the rezoning request.
Trinity Real Estate had requested the rezoning; the church owns about 40 percent of the property from Canal to Houston Streets And From Sixth Avenue to Washington Street.
The plan, though, has met opposition from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the neighborhood’s Community Board and local elected officials, including Assembly member Deborah Glickhave. The opponents, however, have promised to support development if the city agrees to give landmark designation to the adjacent, proposed South Village Historic District.
The committees’ approval calls a vote by the Landmarks Preservation Commission on the South Village Historic District by the end of the year. [NYO] —Christopher Cameron