Former Chelsea Prison Will Be Converted to Affordable Housing

Bayview Correctional Facility in Chelsea is about to become the next “liberated” city-owned landmark.

This morning Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the Liberty Landing project, which will invest over $108 million to convert a former women’s prison to affordable housing for low-income residents and formerly incarcerated individuals.

Camber Property Group and Osborne Association are poised to do the conversion of the state-owned 100,000 square-foot former Bayview Correctional Facility into 124 affordable housing units. The building is situated at West 20th Street and 11th Avenue.

Camber Property Group specializes in developing, rehabilitating and preserving affordable and mixed-income housing across New York City, with a portfolio of nearly 10,000 units valued at over $2.5 billion. The group was recently under scrutiny after a fire killed 17 in a Bronx affordable housing complex that it co-owned. Its principal, Rick Gropper, said that he expects the former facility to become a “beacon of West Chelsea.”

Osborne Association, a nonprofit organization which supports individuals, families, and communities affected by incarceration, will provide on-site social services and programming for formerly incarcerated individuals.

The redevelopment will keep the Main and Annex buildings largely intact and construct new additions in the interior courtyard to maximize housing opportunities. Plans also feature a 9,300-square-foot community facility unit for youth programming.

The project is part of a larger state initiative to convert state-owned land into housing to address the city’s housing shortage. The state budget passed in May created a $500 million capital fund to build up to 15,000 new homes on state-owned property, alongside an additional $600 million to fund other housing development statewide, as well as new protections for renters.

Such projects have received pushback in the past. A city-owned site at 388 Hudson Street, where the city had plans to build 100 affordable units, faced opposition for its proposed height. And locals objected to the almost 3,000 units being developed by the state at Creedmor Psychiatric Center in Queens.

The proposed project will be presented for public review and comment prior to its final consideration and approval.

—Christina Previte