With Fulton Fish Market Out, Developers Eye Seaport Area as Potential Boomtown
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For years, brokers and developers have viewed the low-density neighborhood around the South Street Seaport as a potential boomtown.
Now that the Fulton Fish Market and its noisy refrigerated trucks have finally departed the area, between the housing projects of Two Bridges to the north and the canyon country of the Financial District to the south speculation about development has picked up, along with hope that the strong fish odor will someday dissipate.
A managing director for the brokerage Massey Knakal, Michael DeCheser, said the fish market’s departure has stirred immediate interest in the surrounding area.
“The market moving is allowing the residential aspect of the area to flourish. And hopefully, along with that, there will be additional amenities to aid the residential housing,” he said.
Surrounding the former fish market are three- and four-story buildings, many of which have been owned or leased by fishmongers for more than a hundred years and require extensive renovation.
Several of these buildings along South Street boast for-sale signs and are soon likely to be developed as condos. Vacant properties in need of extensive rehabilitation have sold at between $400 and $500 a square foot.
There is some evidence that the neighborhood will become a wealthy enclave. South of the fish market, a 55-story high-rise – a stack of super luxury apartment cubes designed by architect Santiago Calatrava – is expected to rise at 80 South St. beginning in March. Rumors have been floating about that a high-rise will be built on the site of the former fish market, which is owned by the city.
In 1977, much of the area was downzoned when the city Landmarks Commission classified a 38-acre parcel as a historic district. Unless it is rezoned, the restrictive zoning resulting from the designation may raise costs and limit the types of developments that are feasible, including those currently popular with developers, like high-rise luxury condos.
The Historic Front Street project has attempted to take advantage of that historic classification. With the help of Liberty Bond financing, a group of developers built 95 high-end rental units and a row of retail stores about a block west of the former fish market. Most of the units are restored 19th-century buildings. Since June, 74 units have been rented for as much as $8,500 a month for two bedrooms.
Despite East River access and close-up views of Brooklyn and the city’s most famous bridge, the neighborhood does face additional development challenges.
The elevated FDR Drive looms over South Street and casts a shadow over much of the neighborhood. Last summer, the city and state committed $150 million to redevelop a two-mile stretch of East River waterfront, including the area around the seaport. Although the project is still in the design phase, it will aim to mitigate some of the negative impact of the FDR and better connect the neighborhood to the riverfront.
Another challenge is a lack of services, which has consistently plagued downtown neighborhoods. And there is the unrelenting legacy of the fish market.
“The smell is the wild card. Some people aren’t bothered buy it. But it could linger,” Mr. DeCheser said.