BFC Partners, L+M Development Partners and Taconic Investment Partners — the developers of Lower East Side megaproject Essex Crossing — announced today that the 1,000-unit complex will be staffed entirely by union workers.
The developers signed an agreement with building workers’ union 32BJ SEIU for the approximately 80 jobs at the completed project to be set aside for union employees. Additionally, the partnership will also help fund a training program for area residents to gain skills that will help qualify them for the available jobs, an unprecedented move, according to the union.
“After decades of community feedback, we’re crafting Essex Crossing to reflect the soul of the Lower East Side,” Ron Moelis, CEO of L+M, said in a statement. About half of Essex Crossing’s units will be affordable, Crain’s reported.
The first phase of the project is set to begin this summer and will include 561 units, a relocation of the Essex Street Market, and an annex of the Andy Warhol Museum. The developers have not yet decided whether union labor will be used for construction.
The project will also house Regal Cinemas, which signed a 15-year lease. [Crain’s] — Tess Hofmann