Opponents 'Foresee Litigation' Against a 1,090-Feet Tower Plan for Tribeca

With City Councilman Christopher Marte, center, are board members of the Community First Development Coalition. From left: Stuart Gold, Meredith James, Stephanie Kelemen, Emily Moyer, and Richard Corman. They maintain that the proposed supertall tower for Independence Plaza should go through a more rigorous land use review. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

Developers of a proposed supertall residential building in Tribeca have revealed a revised proposal for a tower even taller than the one they previously showed—and that opponents have been bracing to fight. 

Rising 1,090-feet, the tower would be located within the Independence Plaza complex, opposite Jay Street and between 310 Greenwich Street, the southernmost tower, and Harrison Street. Independence Plaza owners Stellar Management and Vornado Realty Trust stunned many in the community in November 2023 when they talked of a 900-foot-tall building. If built, this tower would nearly triple the height of Independence Plaza’s three 374-foot buildings. A maximum of 1,391 apartments would be built, according to the application.

Details of the project, to be designed by Morris Adjmi Architects, emerged in the developers’ Draft Scope of Work For an Environmental Impact Statement recently filed with the Department of City Planning.

Along with the supertall tower, new storefronts and two 125-feet-high residential buildings (with 85-feet setbacks) would face Greenwich Street, between Jay and Harrison. Another residential building, 125-feet high, would be built on the west side of the lot. The new construction would surround the federal-era townhouses on three sides. The number of parking spaces in the garage would remain the same, with an entrance only on Harrison Street.

Vornado and Stellar say the project is “as of right” and therefore can sidestep the city’s rigorous public review process, known as ULURP. That process includes approval by the City Council where local Councilman Christopher Marte, who opposes the project, could influence the vote. 

According to the developers, the southern parcel of Independence Plaza (south of Harrison Street) was not fully developed to its zoning maximum. And because there is no needed zoning change request or new waivers needed, it is not considered a Large Scale Residential Development (LSRD), which would trigger the higher-level review. An Environmental Impact Statement, however, is still required. 

“We are still confident that this is an LSRD and they would have to go through a ULURP,” Marte told the Trib.

“Throughout that process,” he added, “we’re going to make sure that they don’t take any shortcuts or use any loopholes to sidestep the impact that we know a development like that will cause.”

“We do foresee litigation,” said Stephanie Kelemen, president of Community First Development Coalition (CFDC), a group formed after the project was first announced. “We’ve retained a litigator. I’m a litigator and we have another litigator on the board. We’re actively developing our legal theories, especially with the paperwork that was just filed, which we think gives us a new legal hook potentially to say why this project cannot be approved absent ULURP—or not at all in its current form.”

The developers say they will be providing 251 apartments for low- and moderate-income tenants in order to take advantage of the city’s Uniform Affordability Preference Program. That program would allow them to add 195,000 square feet to their building (from a Floor Area Ratio or FAR of 10 to 12), according to the developers. They say in their application that they have yet to decide whether those tenants will be housed on site or off. (The below-market apartments could be located anywhere in Community Board 1, or within 1.5 miles of Independence Plaza.)  

The developer’s application notes that there are currently no below-market apartments in the complex. There are, however, still many units occupied by tenants—most now seniors—who met that qualification during the time the buildings were in the state-subsidized Mitchell-Lama program, or they are covered by Section 8 enhanced vouchers. That has raised questions, Kelemen said, about whether those apartments will be included among the 251 affordable units to be created. A spokesperson for the developer told the Trib in an email that the current below-market-rate apartments in the complex are not allowed to be included as part of the affordability program.

In a statement, the developers said: “We are proposing a modification to unlock the maximum amount of residential floor area allowed under the site’s current zoning to help the Mamdani Administration meet its goals of building as much housing as possible. We look forward to continuing to work with residents, neighbors and key stakeholders in the months ahead to ensure this project reflects the needs of both the city and the people that live and work here.”

In their application to the city, the developers said they expect approvals for the project to be completed by mid-2027, followed by six months of demolition. They anticipate construction to begin in early 2028 and take four years to complete.

Trib editor Carl Glassman is a tenant in Independence Plaza.