How a $180 Million Parking Lot Could Change N.Y.C.âs Historic Character
Will a skyscraper at the South Street Seaport set a precedent for development in historic districts?
This parking lot has been protected as a historic landmark since 1977. Now a developer has been given permission to build a tower on it.Credit.Karsten Moran for The New York Times
By Amy Sohn
May 6, 2021
For more than 40 years, real estate developers have been intoxicated by an asphalt trapezoid at 250 Water Street. It has East River proximity, high visibility from the Brooklyn Bridge and the Brooklyn Heights promenade and â as far as open space in downtown Manhattan goes â it is big: nearly 50,000 square feet. But this particular lot, whose spots ran about $20 an hour on weekdays, is in the South Street Seaport Historic District, which means that anyone seeking to build even a toolshed there must first secure permission from the Landmarks Preservation Commission.