Another Monster Tower on the East River

The Lower East Side is beginning to give the mega-development at Hudson Yards a run for its money. Starrett Corp. has unveiled plans for a 724-foot, 62-story tower to rise from a parking lot hard by the FDR Drive at 259 Clinton Street. It will be the fourth massive tower to rise on the riverfront, bringing a total of 2,700 new apartments to an area with an already overtaxed infrastructure – and not far from the 1,000 apartments under construction at the $1 billion Essex Crossing development. The frenzy has erased several Lower East Side landmarks.

Josh Siegel, president of Starrett Development, tells The Lo-Down that 25 percent of the 732 units in the newest of the four towers will be permanently affordable housing. “We’re really trying to answer the mayor’s call for affordability,” Siegel said. “That’s what this project is aimed at.”

The building will be constructed just one foot above the floodplain, with retractable floodgates plus holding tanks for excessive storm water. The first stories will accommodate a ramp from the FDR Drive. Talk about location, location, location.

Local activists continue to bitterly oppose the four view-blocking riverfront towers in the predominantly low-rise, low-income neighborhood.