Vornado, Stellar Finalize Plans to Add 976 Residential Units to Independence Plaza

Vornado Realty Trust and Stellar Management have finalized plans to build an additional 72-story residential tower at Independence Plaza, a three-building, 1,328-unit multifamily campus in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood, according to a Wednesday filing with the New York City Department of City Planning.

Independence Plaza, which spans 1.4 million square feet, currently has three 39-story towers at 40 Harrison Street, 80 North Moore Street and 310 Greenwich Street. If approved, the new plans would add a total of 976 units within a 72-story tower and three much smaller buildings.

Plans for a new residential tower at the complex were announced last year, although few specific details were released. Vornado and Stellar are now seeking approval for their new project, which would use the city’s Universal Affordability Preference program to build affordable units. Those units would be built through two options: including about 251 affordable units as part of the new construction, or building the affordable units elsewhere.

“We are proposing a modification to unlock the maximum amount of residential floor area allowed under the site’s current zoning to help the Mamdani administration meet its goals of building as much housing as possible,” a spokesperson for the project told Commercial Observer. “We look forward to continuing to work with residents, neighbors and key stakeholders in the months ahead to ensure this project reflects the needs of both the city and the people that live and work here.”

The application also calls for more capital improvements at the complex and additional retail space — the latter of which is needed in the community, Vornado and Stellar wrote in the filing. 

“The proposed project would provide an improved public realm, including new retail space and more appealing streetscapes,” the companies wrote in the application. “While the originally approved site plan and urban design of the large-scale residential development reflected the 1970s ideals of development on superblocks, Independence Plaza suffers in its relationship to the surrounding neighborhood character. The existing streetscape lacks retail continuity.”

Stellar acquired the 1975-built Independence Plaza site in 2003. Until Stellar’s acquisition, the campus had been rent-regulated, but Vornado acquired a 58 percent stake in the complex in 2012 with the intent to change some of the units to market-rate pricing. 

Over the last five years, Stellar and Vornado have invested $33 million to renovate lobbies, corridors, community spaces, elevators and retail spaces across Independence Plaza. An additional $15 million is being allocated for the development of community spaces over the next two years. 

As far as the new application goes, the teams are still in the early planning phases to determine the best use of the allowable space and have not yet made any decisions on the size and scope of any potential new development. The companies’ latest submission is a request for environmental review by the city, and awaits several approvals.

In June of last year, Vornado and Stellar secured $675 million in commercial mortgage-backed securities financing for Independence Plaza, refinancing debt that was scheduled to mature last July, as CO previously reported. 

Amanda Schiavo can be reached at aschiavo@commercialobserver.com.