New Tower Blocks To Replace LES Synagogue Destroyed By Fire

LOWER EAST SIDE — A new rendering unveils what developers' have in store for the corner of Broome and Norfolk Sts., where a synagogue was destroyed in a fire nearly two years ago.

The Gotham Organization and Chinese-American Planning Council are partnering to construct a 373-unit, 30-story building with 25 percent below market rate units and a second 16-story building with 115 below market rate senior units, according to the project's scoping documents.

The 30-story tower, dubbed the Suffolk building, is expected to include around 19,000 square feet of retail space facing Broome St. as well as 40,000 square feet of community facilities that will be owned by the Chinese-American Planning Council to allow the organization to combine half a dozen Lower Manhattan locations into one.

The second senior building, called the Norfolk building, will also include around 4,000 square feet of space for a Jewish worship and cultural heritage space for the Beth Hamedrash Hagodol synagogue, which once stood at 60 Norfolk St. until it was destroyed in a blaze nearly two years ago.

The developers are seeking approval from the City Planning Commission for a variety of zoning changes and approvals for the site, which is bounded by Broome and Grand Sts. to the north and south as well as Suffolk and Norfolk Sts. east and west. The project is across from the massive Lower East Side development, Essex Crossing, and around the corner from Seward Park.

Scoping documents say that the income levels for the affordable units would average at 55 percent of the area median income (AMI).

Per the 2018 city statistics, 55 percent AMI would be for individuals with incomes between about $36,000 and $44,000. For families of four, that would be between $52,000 and $63,000.

The public can comment on the project to the Department of City Planning until 5 p.m. on March 8.

The project will then go through a public review process called the uniform land use review procedure (ULURP). The project will be heard by Community Board 3 and the City Planning Commission, with a final vote by the City Council for the zoning approvals.