It’s no secret that the Chelsea neighborhood is one of the great loves of my life. There is nowhere else I’d rather live, and witnessing first-hand the evolution of West Chelsea is exciting and extraordinary. Real Estate Weekly just posted this letter regarding the expansion of the Chelsea Market, and of course I had to share:
As seen in Real Estate Weekly:
Chelsea Market expansion will create jobs, help advance NYC
August 8, 2012
Steven Spinola
President, Real Estate Board of New York
Chelsea Market has been one of New York’s great success stories over the last twenty years. Initially a magnet for food and media companies, Chelsea Market has more recently played a crucial role in West Chelsea becoming known as “Silicon Alley”.
Now Jamestown Properties, Chelsea Market’s owner, has a plan to expand by adding floors to the building. This expansion will create jobs and help advance New York City as a global center for the technology and media industries. (Google’s purchase of 111 Eighth Avenue – right across the street from Chelsea Market – makes clear that technology companies want to be in New York City and, particularly, West Chelsea.) The Real Estate Board of New York enthusiastically supports Jamestown Properties’ plans to expand Chelsea Market.
The planned expansion calls for a 232,000-square-foot office addition, matching the existing structure’s shape, built atop the Market’s west side along Tenth Avenue, as well as a 78,000-square-foot office space on the southwest corner of Ninth Avenue and 16th Street.
This development requires no government subsidy, involves no relocation or condemnation, and will generate $7 million annually in real property taxes to provide for vital City services.
In this economic climate, job creation is paramount. The new office space will employ more than 1,000 additional people in the tech and media sector. According to a study performed by Appleseed, this expansion will generate more than $1.3 billion of economic output annually. (Currently at Chelsea Market, there are 20 office tenants in the tech and media industries that employ more than 3,600 people at Chelsea Market.)
Construction for the expansion will boost the economy with the creation of more than 600 union jobs and result in more than $300 million in spending citywide. Two major labor groups, SEIU 32BJ and the Building and Construction Trades Council, support the project.
The expansion will generate more than $19 million for the High Line Improvement Fund to maintain this world-class park. Such monies will also be used for amenities like public restrooms along the High Line, a freight elevator and new space for public and community events with roughly 3,000 square feet of activity space and 1,000 square feet of storage space to the park.
REBNY strongly encourages the City to support Jamestown’s plan for the Chelsea Market expansion which is important for the future of Chelsea and New York City.
A complete crock! Want to know why?
Jobs – Aside from temporary construction jobs, which ALL developments create, the jobs that Jamestown’s commercial tenants will create will be for highly skilled IT specialists, who will have been rigorously trained, and are among the most experienced in their field. IT companies is to hire many initially, but as new systems get developed and implemented, it is the nature of the industry to require and hire a smaller and smaller labor force as they grow increasingly efficient.
Existing Office Space – There is a lot of existing of existing office space in Chelsea. Just to the south of 14th street, not to mention lower Manhattan that needs this kind of investment most. Jamestown will exponentially increase the value of their trophy asset once the square footage is built, when they sell it, they themselves admit in a minimum of 7 years. Will whoever buy this behemoth also feel there “is nowhere else I’d (they’d)rather live”?
Thank you for sharing your view on the Real Estate Weekly article!