Meatpacking District’s Rebrand Is in Full Swing as Mayor Unveils Latest Plans

The last of the meatpackers are taking their T-bones and packing up as Mayor Eric Adams announced on Monday plans to transform 66,000 square feet of Manhattan’s Meatpacking District into a hub for residents, office dwellers and museumgoers. 

Adams is planning to redesign the site of the last remaining meat purveyors in the neighborhood into the Gansevoort Square hub, which will be home to mixed-income housing, public spaces, and an expansion of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the High Line, according to the mayor’s office. 

Gansevoort Square — on Little West 12th Street between Washington Street and 10th Avenue — will be built in part on the site of the Gansevoort Market Co-op, according to the statement from the mayor’s office. Over the summer, the Gansevoort Meat Market, which leases the Co-op, agreed to vacate the site earlier than the planned date of 2032, according to a report from the New York Post, which first reported the news. 

The proposal for the project includes up to 600 mixed-income housing units — half of which will be affordable — 11,200 square feet of new open public space, a 45,000-square-foot expansion of the Whitney, and potentially some new High Line facilities, according to the statement from the mayor’s office. The office did not respond to a request for further comment. 

“This is an incredible opportunity to not only deliver needed housing for New Yorkers, but create a vibrant 24/7 live, work, play and learn community right in the heart of one of New York’s most iconic neighborhoods,” Andrew Kimball, president and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, said in the statement announcing the project. “Through a mutual decision with the Gansevoort Meat Market to leave the site early, we are able to unlock enormous potential to further expand upon what is becoming a premier cultural destination for New Yorkers and tourists alike.”

The area first served as a fishing and trading post for the Lenape people, according to the Meatpacking District website. By the 1840s, the neighborhood began a more urban development, and by the 1880s the area was the spot to go for New Yorker’s poultry, fish, and meat needs. 

The Meatpacking District had already been undergoing changes over the last several years, with only a few meatpackers left in the area while retailers, office workers and residents moved in. There is a mix of luxury retail brands throughout the area including Gucci, Hermes and Rolex. Google (GOOGL) and Lyft also have offices in the neighborhood.    

“The transformation of Gansevoort Square not only honors the history of the Meatpacking District but also lays the foundation for its future,” Jared Epstein, president of Aurora Capital Associates and co-founder of the Meatpacking Business Improvement District, told Commercial Observer via email. “This initiative will attract new opportunities and ensure the district remains a vibrant economic engine for years to come.”

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