FINANCIAL DISTRICT— A proposed Lower Manhattan redevelopment could replace a nine-story office building with two residential towers, including one taller than any nearby building, bringing about 4,000 apartments, at least 1,000 permanently affordable homes and nearly seven years of construction beside Southbridge Towers.
The project would rise at 100 Gold St., on the southeast corner of Gold and Frankfort streets, immediately south of the Brooklyn Bridge approach.
The city-owned, roughly two-acre site currently houses several city agencies and a senior center.
The proposal calls for construction to begin in 2030, continue through 2037 and reach full occupancy in 2038.
The project would require zoning changes allowing substantially greater density and building height.
The proposed Gold Street tower would rise 115 stories, reaching 1,290 feet to the top of its roof screen. A second tower along Frankfort Street would reach 78 stories and 901 feet.
The existing building stands about 112 feet tall. The proposed taller tower would rise 1,178 feet above that height.
Nearby, 8 Spruce Street reaches 860 feet, making the proposed Gold Street tower substantially taller than the surrounding residential skyline.
The two towers would rise from a shared 15-story podium.
Together, the development would contain approximately 3.4 million gross square feet.
The proposal seeks zoning changes allowing a floor area ratio of 30, a measure comparing a building's zoning floor area with the size of its lot. The requested changes would also address tower dimensions, setbacks, loading requirements and bicycle parking.
The development scenario includes approximately 4,000 apartments, with about 3,000 market-rate homes and at least 1,000 permanently affordable homes.
The affordable apartments would target households earning an average of 60 percent of the area median income, a regional income benchmark used to set housing affordability levels.
At 60 percent of the area median income, eligible households would earn up to about $71,280 a year for one person or$101,760 for a family of four, based on 2026 income limits.
The draft scope does not specify individual apartment rents, bedroom counts or the income limits for each household size.
The applicants propose building the housing without publicly assisted financing.
The project would nevertheless involve city-owned land and references labor standards and worker protections associated with New York State's 485-x tax incentive program.
The existing building houses operations for the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the Department of Education, the Parks Department, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, the Office of Collective Bargaining and the Mayor's Office.
GrowNYC also operates there, alongside the City Hall Older Adult Center, a senior center run by Hamilton Madison House.
The city agencies would relocate permanently.
Proceeds from the site's disposition would help pay for those moves, according to the proposal.
The senior center would initially move to a replacement facility expected to sit within a 10-block radius.
The developer would pay relocation expenses, rent, leasing fees and fit-out costs.
The new facility would need to be ready and acceptable to the City's Department for the Aging before the center moved.
If stakeholders choose to keep the senior center at its replacement location, the space reserved for it in the new development could instead become residential amenity space.
The proposed replacement center would cover 18,000 square feet, matching the existing facility's size.
The City estimates that repairing the existing building to bring it into good condition would cost more than $220 million.
The Brutalist-style office building dates to the late 1960s, was designed by Gruzen & Partners and has belonged to the City since 1993.
The draft scope, however, does not provide a complete development budget, a proposed sale price for the property or a detailed financial comparison between replacing the building and renovating it.
Yes. Investigations completed in February 2026 identified soil contaminants exceeding one or more state cleanup standards.
The findings included volatile and semivolatile organic compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides and metals.
Groundwater testing also detected semivolatile compounds and metals above applicable state standards or guidance values.
The site's history includes a newspaper printing facility with paint storage, a machine shop, businesses handling animal hides and leather, straw-related businesses and a garage with a 550-gallon underground gasoline tank.
The City's Department of Environmental Protection characterized the investigation as limited and recommended a hazardous-materials "E" designation.
Such a designation would require additional testing and any necessary cleanup or engineering controls under city oversight before construction proceeds.
Construction could last approximately 82 months, or nearly seven years, under the draft schedule.
The proposal anticipates one construction phase running from 2030 through 2037.
Some residents could move into completed portions of the development before construction ends, creating the possibility of construction noise affecting both existing neighbors and new occupants.
The environmental review will study construction-related truck traffic, dust, exhaust, noise and vibration.
It will also examine potential effects from sidewalk restrictions, road closures and other disruptions to pedestrian and vehicle access.
The development would add an estimated 8,080 residents and 279 workers.
The environmental review will examine whether nearby schools and other public services can accommodate additional demand, including elementary and middle schools in Community School District 2, Subdistrict 1, early childhood programs and public libraries.
Air quality also figures prominently because the proposed homes would sit within 200 feet of the Brooklyn Bridge and its elevated approaches.
The review will examine potential effects from roadway pollution.
The study will also assess shadows, views from the Brooklyn Bridge and Brooklyn waterfront, and effects on nearby historic resources.
The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission will be consulted about whether the existing building qualifies for city landmark status or listing on the State or National Registers of Historic Places.
The proposal describes approximately 40,000 square feet of public-realm improvements, but not all of that space would count as publicly accessible open space in the environmental analysis.
About 22,000 square feet would qualify as publicly accessible open space, roughly half an acre.
Another 18,000 square feet would consist of widened sidewalks, landscaping and other open areas.
The development would also include approximately 5,000 square feet of retail space and a 43,000-square-foot commercial gym open to the public.
The proposal does not describe the gym as a free recreation center.
No public or accessory vehicle parking would be built. The project would eliminate the 21 parking spaces currently on the site.
The draft scope lists a public scoping meeting for Oct. 29, 2026, at Pace University's Student Center West, One Pace Plaza, with an entrance at Spruce Street and Park Row.
The schedule lists presentation and comment opportunities beginning at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Written comments would be accepted until 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, 2026.
The scoping process allows the public to weigh in on which environmental effects the city should study in the environmental impact statement.
The redevelopment still faces environmental review and land-use approvals.
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