City Can Replace Beloved Park Near SoHo With Senior Housing, Judge Rules

A judge has ruled that a new senior affordable housing project can go up on New York City-owned land that has long been operated as a public garden.

The Haven Green is a planned, 123-unit affordable housing proposal aimed at LGBTQ+ seniors from developer Pennrose, community development nonprofit RiseBoro Community Partnership and Habitat for Humanity. But the project has been delayed by more than a decade due to lawsuits from community groups, The New York Times reported.

The source of Haven Green’s controversy is the city-owned site itself, which currently operates as a public garden run by volunteer nonprofit Elizabeth Street Garden Inc. That organization, along with the nonprofit Friends of Elizabeth Street Garden, filed suit against the city in 2019 over the plans, according to Crain’s New York Business, which first reported news of the verdict.

Community Board 2 agreed to lease the public site in 1990 to Allan Reiver, then owner of the Elizabeth Street Gallery, for $4K a month on the condition that he cleaned up the junkyard that then occupied the space, according to the Elizabeth Street Garden website. Reiver planted trees, landscaped the garden and installed sculptures before he died in 1991. Nonprofits have since maintained the garden.

In 2012, the garden was added to the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area, a swath of public land in Lower Manhattan targeted by the city council for affordable housing, mixed-use, retail, office and public space development. Essex Crossing, a 1.9M SF mixed-use project from a joint venture that includes L+M, BFC Development Partners, Goldman Sachs and Taconic Investment Partners, is among the projects created in the aftermath of the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area plan.

The nonprofit custodians of the Elizabeth Street Garden protested the rezoning and in 2019 sued the city, arguing that city officials had “failed to take a hard look at zoning, neighborhood character, public policy and cumulative impact” on resources in the densely populated area between SoHo and Nolita.

New York State Supreme Court Judge Debra James voided the environmental impact statement in November last year, further delaying the development, The Real Deal reported at the time. But on Monday, the court ruled that the city had appropriately assessed the environmental impact, leaving plans for the development standing.

Haven Green will provide accommodation for low-income, LGBTQ+ New Yorkers aged 62 and up and their families, and will maintain almost 7K SF of the Elizabeth Street Garden’s green space for public use.

The nonprofit plans to appeal the decision, but developers are pleased with the outcome.

“Today’s unanimous appellate court decision is truly a win-win for the community, paving the way for 123 deeply affordable, LGBTQ-friendly homes for low-income and formerly homeless seniors while establishing accessible and beautiful green space designed in partnership with the community,” said Scott Short, CEO of RiseBoro Community Partnership, in a statement provide to Bisnow. “The Haven Green Development team remains committed to creating a safe housing space for LGBTQ seniors while carrying the spirit of the current space into the future expanded garden.”