MIDTOWN MANHATTAN (PIX11) -- It will be the largest project of its kind in New York history when it's finished, and preliminary work is already underway on converting the former Pfizer world headquarters into residential apartments. It's part of a larger trend that's seen by urban planners, housing advocates, and elected officials as a way to help increase the supply of housing in an intensely tight market, but it's also drawing some criticism for not helping to provide the volume of affordable housing that the city needs.
The process to make office-to-residential conversions is well underway. At the former Pfizer headquarters building, on 42nd Street and Second Avenue, work crews were clearing out furniture on Wednesday morning to help make way for demolition crews. They're set this summer to start the gut renovation of the two buildings that made up the headquarters.
"It's going to be the biggest conversion from office to residential in the history of New York," said Mark Levine, the Manhattan borough president, who announced the conversion on his X account on Tuesday.
"1,500 apartments," he continued, in an interview on Wednesday. "It's going to really change Midtown."
"It's what happened in Lower Manhattan," he said, "which used to totally shut at 5 p.m., and now it's a vibrant 24-7 community."
In Lower Manhattan, in the Financial District, to be precise, there are two neighboring buildings that are part of the office building-to-residential building trend.
One address, 160 Water St. is being converted now, while 180 Water St. has been converted.
"It's funny you mention that. I didn't even know it," said Tizzy Beck, a resident of 180 Water St. "It doesn't feel like it. The ceilings are really, really high, it feels really airy. The design is obviously quite pleasant."
Carlo Proietti is one of her neighbors in the building. "We've lived in New York in many areas," he said, "and this is our favorite place. Me and my wife, we love the building. Great."
Residents of the converted building give it glowing reviews. Still, there's one thing that some of them said is on their minds in addition: their rent.
“It reflects exactly where we live,” said Ronald Rodriguez, another resident of 180 Water St.. When asked what his rent was, he said, “It's about 4K.”
That’s about $4,000 for a one-bedroom apartment, which is market rate, in the Financial District, where Rodriguez lives.
New state tax and zoning rules are adding incentives for property owners and developers to carry out conversions that would ensure that a proportion of the new developments would be below market rate.
That proportion, according to Michelle de la Uz, the executive director of the affordable housing development and advocacy group Fifth Avenue Committee, “In most cases, it's 25% of the units being affordable,” she said in an interview.
She also said that what she'd like to see among the 1,500 new apartments at the former Pfizer headquarters is “at least 300 or more would be affordable to families, at a range of incomes.”
It’s already confirmed by the developer that the former Pfizer headquarters will not have affordable units.
However, Levine said he's gotten preliminary commitments from developers of future conversions -- particularly older buildings that are farthest from transportation hubs -- that they want to benefit from tax and zoning rules that incentivize including affordable units in conversion developments.
The issue of affordable converted apartments will be on the agenda at the next New York City Planning Commission meeting, according to de la Uz. It's scheduled for July 10, and the hearing will be open for public comment.
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