A developer is betting that people will pay top dollar for up-close views of one of the city’s most unloved sites: AT&T’s Long Lines Building in Tribeca, a windowless, 29-story hulk from the 1970s that routinely makes lists of New Yorkers’ least-favorite buildings.
The plan, which was put forth by AT&T on behalf of an unnamed firm, calls for constructing a residential tower with 79 market-rate units in a small park that’s next to the Long Lines Building, according to a document filed Friday with the Department of City Planning. The park, which is owned by AT&T, extends between Worth and Thomas streets just west of Broadway. No changes, cosmetic or otherwise, are planned for the Long Lines Building, the filing says.
Because the 112,000-square-foot development would eliminate public space—the park would shrink from 19,500 square feet to 9,500 square feet—and also represent a different kind of use for the property, the plan requires city approvals.
By trying to line up all the necessary approvals before delivering the site, AT&T is following a familiar playbook when it comes to sellers of real estate for developments.
The documents do not name the developer, though it’s possible more than one is being considered; it’s also unclear if the project would be a condo or rental. An email sent to AT&T’s media office was not returned by press time. And Jon Popin, the attorney handling the process for AT&T, had no comment.
But the 210-page filing includes several details about the 112,000-square-foot development, which would be at 33 Thomas St. in an enclave that is among Manhattan’s priciest and where development parcels are scarce. It is to feature two towers, one with 21 stories and the other with 15 stories, which will both sit atop a 1-story base lined with stores.
The 1974 Long Lines Building, which has no openings in its monolithic stone facade aside from a few ventilation holes, would be taller than the new development by a few stories.
The new complex would have its own tax lot under the proposal, so a deed would likely be filed in public records at some point. But the city register does not yet indicate any major changes in terms of ownership at the address.
Though the plaza would become much smaller under the plan, the developer has offered to improve it with new trees, benches and a bike rack, while also removing the gates that limited access to it at night.
Handing public space over to a residential developer would be a nonstarter in many cases, even if the space is not technically city parkland but controlled by a landlord. That’s because privately owned public spaces are often required of landlords that are awarded zoning bonuses to develop buildings taller than otherwise allowed.
But AT&T argues in its filing that it never took advantage of any bonus as a result of the plaza and so is not legally bound to maintain the space’s current size.
Residents of the planned development might not just have a bird’s-eye perspective on the Long Lines Building, which in its heyday routed hundreds of millions of phone calls and took on the appearance of a fortress in order to withstand a nuclear attack. They would also be neighbors of a site that reportedly played a major role in covert security operations.
Indeed, the National Security Agency allegedly used its rooms to eavesdrop on foreign nationals working at the United Nations and the World Bank, according to the documentary Project X, which based its revelations on classified documents provided by whistleblower and ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
The average rent in Tribeca at the end of last year was $11,000 a month, according to market research from the Corcoran Group.
C. J. Hughes , 2024-03-04 18:30:46
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