9/18/2013
By Ivan Pereira
The city unveiled plans Wednesday to transform the Lower East Side.
The nine sites in the Seward Park area near Essex and Delancey streets will become a 1.65-million-square-foot mixed-use development.
In addition to 1,000 units of housing, half of which will go to affordable housing, “Essex Crossing” will also include a 15,000-square-foot open space, an expanded Essex Street Market, a school, a community center, a rooftop urban farm, the Andy Warhol Museum and 250,000 square feet of office space, according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The city received input from community groups into the design of the project, which is the largest stretch of undeveloped land below 96th Street.
The project is slated to open in 2018.
