New York City-based real estate development and investment firm Kinsmen Property Group is pursuing ambitious plans to construct 322 residential units along the Bowery in Manhattan's Nolita district. This information comes from details available to the Commercial Observer. Kinsmen had already submitted plans in October 2024 to demolish a 15,000 square foot complex of vacant buildings at 156-166 Bowery, and has now filed a land use application with the Department of City Planning. The aim is to convert the now-vacant site into three mixed-use buildings with a total of 322 residential units across various income brackets.
Should the project be approved, the three buildings would comprise a 29-storey structure with 124 affordable apartments for seniors. Additionally, there would be a 26-storey building with 99 residential units for various income levels and 3,260 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Another 26-storey building is planned, also with 99 mixed-use residential units and 4,391 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The design of the project is in the hands of architecture firms Kohn Pedersen Fox and Beyer Blinder Belle. It is expected to enter public review under the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) by the end of the year.
Ari Zagdanski, Principal at Kinsmen, commented in a statement on the necessity of the undertaking. He said they were delighted to bring over 300 new homes to Lower Manhattan at a time when there is urgent demand for housing across the city. He added that the project aims to honour the rich history of the Bowery while directly addressing the city's housing needs.
The site at 156-166 Bowery has been the subject of various previous project plans. In 2022, the then-owner Real Estate Equities Corporation (REEC), which had signed a 99-year ground lease for the properties in 2020 for $50 million, submitted plans for a seven-storey, 73,000 square foot retail and office building on the site. However, construction on that project stalled. It remains unclear whether REEC still holds the ground lease for the Nolita site. According to documents, Kinsmen acquired the site in several separate purchases in 2016 and 2017 for a total of $53.5 million.
The endeavour is receiving support from local council member Christopher Marte, who is cooperating with Kinsmen in the approval process for the new application. Marte described the project as a 'critical milestone' for the Bowery area, as it will create the same number of affordable senior housing units that were previously earmarked for the Elizabeth Street Garden, just a few blocks away. Plans to build housing on the garden site were officially abandoned earlier this month. Marte emphasised that hundreds of seniors and families will soon be able to live affordably downtown. They would benefit from the beauty, recreation, and community that the garden has to offer. Marte announced his unwavering continued support for both this project and the garden, as both are crucial resources New Yorkers need to thrive.
