From Gas Tanks to Tower: Hochul Plans Housing, Intrepid Parking for 12th Avenue Parcel

One of the largest undeveloped parcels of vacant land on the far West Side of Midtown Manhattan, at 621 W. 45th St., is being put out for bid to develop a mix of commercial space, housing, and a bus and employee parking lot for the Intrepid Museum.

The Empire State Development Corp. did not return calls seeking comment, but one report put the project proposal cost at anywhere from $50 million to $200 million, according to an estimate from HigherGov.com.

A residential tower could be a boon to the West Side’s housing stock. Currently, there are no residential spaces along Twelfth Avenue between 22nd Street and 57th Street, and a proposal by the Related Companies to develop apartments and a casino on its Hudson Yards complex is facing fierce local opposition.

“By transforming this underutilized State-owned property into a dynamic mixed-use development with a significant affordable-housing component, we’re taking aim at low housing supply in a high-demand area and building a stronger community for residents in Hell’s Kitchen and beyond,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. Bids are due in to the Empire State Development Corp. by May 15.

The parcel that is going to be redeveloped is encompassed by a 50,000-plus-square-foot space between West 45th and 46th streets on the east side of Twelfth Avenue, currently a run-down asphalt lot used as a bus and employee parking lot for the Intrepid Museum. An overpass that was built in 2002 will remain in place, allowing people to reach the Intrepid, the legendary aircraft carrier, on the west side of Twelfth Avenue.

Like any Manhattanite, the land has had a long history. An unoccupied space in the 1830s, 20 years later there were a number of structures, including a large building along the south side of West 46th Street. By 1877, part of the space had become a gas manufacturing plant, lasting until 1913. From the early 1930s, the space held what grew to be a 286-foot-high behemoth of a gas storage tank, 192 feet in diameter and capable of holding 7 million gallons of gas by 1962, until it was torn down in the late 1960s.

The vacant land then became a ConEd storage lot and natural-gas distribution point until the neighboring Intrepid Museum was given the space in 2000 to establish a parking lot. At that time, the land was ceded by Consolidated Edison to the New York State Department of Transportation, under eminent domain. NY State, in turn, let the Museum use it for parking in a 2002 agreement.

Requirements for the Request for Proposals from interested developers require two separate requests: one including 25 percent affordable housing, the other 30 percent; in addition, each must include 20 percent of those for multi-bedroom spaces.

And the Intrepid’s parking? The proposals must include space for an employee and 14-vehicle bus parking lot using the existing pedestrian bridge connection from the new building over Twelfth Avenue to the museum. With an eye toward the future, in 2016, NY State’s Department of Environmental Conservation, partnering with Con Edison, looked at a Remedial Action Work Plan aiming to limit exposure from century-old contaminants. Field investigations, done 10 years before, found soil and coal tar both contaminated, 16 to 30 feet beneath the surface. Previous studies, done in the late 1990s, revealed chemical compounds and PCBs.

And what is required of the successful developer? They are on their own as far as independent research and all investigations. First, an environmental review of the site must be conducted. Costs, taxes, title, survey, development, encumbrances, financing, construction, and remediation are all on the developer to pay for.

Noted Brian Walker, VP of communications for the Intrepid Museum:

“The Intrepid Museum applauds the Governor’s vision for a redevelopment that is integrated with the community, and which we envision means a strong tie-in to local cultural attractions and Hudson River Park. We welcome and look forward to working with all of the stakeholders toward creating a development that benefits both the development itself, and provides educational and cultural resources to the greater community.”