Hochul Says One-Third Of 1,200 New Apartments Planned For 5 World Trade Center Will Be Affordable
Governor Kathy Hochul spoke about the new affordable housing units at a July 27 press conference, which will also see some affordable apartments reserved for those “living in and working in Lower Manhattan” during 9/11. The building will also include “approximately 10,000 square-feet” for the nonprofit org Educational Alliance, with nearly 200,000 sq. ft. for office and retail space.
| 02 Aug 2023 | 05:51
Governor Kathy Hochul announcing at a July 27 press conference that 1/3 of the 1,200 apartments set to be built at 5 World Trade Center will be designated as affordable. (
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One-third of the 1,200 units of housing being built for a new skyscraper at 5 World Trade Center will be reserved for people of low-to-moderate incomes, a decision lauded by politicians and community stakeholders across the board. A further twenty percent of those 1,200 apartments will be reserved for those who experienced the 9/11 attacks, either by working or living in Lower Manhattan at the time.
Governor Kathy Hochul announced the development at a July 27 press conference, where she proclaimed that “the resurgence of lower Manhattan after the 9/11 attacks is an only-in-America comeback story. With this project, we’re about to transform an old parking lot into new homes for thousands of New Yorkers — bringing new affordable housing and community spaces to this iconic neighborhood.” In a telling aside, she added that “it wasn’t easy to get to this point.”
In fact, the project reportedly came together after reps from the State Executive, State Assembly, & State Senate huddled together to scrounge together $60 million dollars for development, with $5 million more coming from the Battery Park City Authority’s Joint Purpose Fund. It was reportedly not part of the $25 billion dollar “Housing Plan” advanced by the Governor for this year’s budget. According to the governor’s office, the Port Authority is seeking a short-term rent deferral for the project.
Mayor Eric Adams appeared happy to see the development land in his city, noting that “New York City has a severe housing shortage, and every new home is a step in the right direction.”
Jessica Lapin, the President of the Downtown Alliance, also praised the announcement: “The Downtown Alliance welcomes the news that an agreement has been reached to devote a larger percentage of units at Site 5 to affordable housing and that those units will also reflect a steeper mix of subsidies to serve more New Yorkers who are in greater need.”
In an interview with Our Town Downtown, State Senator Brian Kavanagh–who represents the district that encompasses the World Trade Center, and also chairs the Housing Committee of that body–asserted that “we have a critical housing shortage. One of things that is significant here is that the World Trade Center never included housing.”
Kavanagh emphasized that some of the units would allegedly be “deeply affordable” units for people at “very low incomes, which will offset the fact that we’ve lost affordable units in the past. It will also ensure that we have places for families.”