Hudson Cos. JV Breaks Ground on Manhattan Affordable Project
The venture secured a $119 million financing package.
A partnership between The Hudson Cos. and Housing Works has broken ground on The Lirio, a 145,000-square-foot development featuring 112 permanently affordable units in Manhattan, N.Y. The project also includes roughly 30,000 square feet of office space and 7,300 square feet of retail space.
In April of this year, the developers secured a $119 million financing package. According to Crain’s New York Business, funding included a $62 million construction loan issued by Webster Bank, upward of $22 million in tax credits by Red Stone Equity Partners, as well as a permanent loan of roughly $19 million by Merchants Capital.
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New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development alongside Councilmember Erik Bottcher and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine provided public funding, the same source reports. Slated to occupy the office space, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority also joined the partnership.
CetraRuddy Architecture provided design services for the affordable project. Additional development team members include EP Engineering, Desimone Consulting Engineers and Bright Power. Construction is expected to wrap up by 2026.
Floorplans call for studio, one- to three-bedroom units with 67 apartments reserved for formerly homeless individuals—59 of which will be catering to homeless long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS. The remainder are reserved for families earning between 30 and 120 percent of the area median income.
Designed to meet Passive House standards by incorporating green building and sustainability elements, The Lirio will rise nine stories. The community is expected to feature solar panels, variable refrigerant flow HVAC systems, envelope construction, as well as green roofs.
A 1,500-square-foot community facility will provide supportive services including counseling and conflict resolution, in addition to life skills training and on-site case management, to name a few.
Located at 806 9th Ave. in Hell’s Kitchen, the project’s site is within walking distance of Central Park, the Columbus Circle, as well as the Hudson River. Numerous quick-service restaurants and transit stops operate in proximity of the development.
A Manhattan affordable project decades in the making
In 2005, the New York City Council approved the Hudson Yards comprehensive rezoning, permitting the construction of millions of square feet of office, retail and hospitality space, as well as 13,500 residential units—more than the roughly 8,200 units projected by the Gowanus Rezoning.
The Western Railyard Site—a 13-acre parcel west of Hudson Yards—received approval in 2009. Part of the approval was a Points of Agreement document which included a request for proposal to redevelop the once-vacant parking lot upon which The Lirio will rise.
A decade later, slowed by various delays, HPD designated Hudson Cos. and Housing Works to develop The Lirio through another request for proposals. In 2022, the project completed its Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.
