Next Step Accomplished: City Council Approves SPURA

It almost feels surreal to keep reporting positive news about SPURA, after five decades of discussions, negotiations and disagreements. The City Council has approved the redevelopment plan for the area in Manhattan’s Lower East Side totaling a span of 1.65 million square feet. Next, the city will call on developers for proposals. The best proposal will be selected by the city with help of the community board. There is no particular time frame for those decisions, which means that it might take a while until the actual construction begins.

The term “affordable” also needs to be discussed and defined for this project. So far there was no word about it and considering the fact that 500 apartments are supposed to be “affordable”, it’s very likely that some disagreements will occur, big surprise.

The city is also considering the addition of a public school spanning 15,000 square-feet. The Essex Street Market is another subject that remains unclear about its future. It might remain at its current place or move and give current vendors priority and commensurate rent.