Construction Begins At 21-Story Union Square Tech Hub

UNION SQUARE, NY — A 21-story technology training center broke ground near Union Square Monday.

The Union Square "Tech Hub," located at 124 East 14th St., will replace the former P.C. Richard & Son store after being approved last year. It will bring office space and resources for tech start-ups as well as training space for digital skills led by non-profit Civic Hall, the Economic Development Corporation said.

"The new Tech Training Center will be a hub for local residents to gain new skills, network, and plug into the City's thriving tech scene," Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Vicki Been said in a statement.

The EDC estimates the center, developed by RAL Development Services, will produce more than 550 permanent jobs and more than 600 construction jobs.

Despite preservationists' criticism, Councilmember Carlina Rivera have emphasized the Tech Hub will connect low-income communities of color with technology training resources.

"With tech jobs surging by 38 percent in New York City over the past seven years, it is imperative that job opportunities reach New Yorkers in the neighborhoods that need them most," Rivera said.

"The curriculum, some of which is currently being piloted with local community partners, is already creating new pathways to success for residents of the Lower East Side where I grew up, and I can't wait to see this center of excellence open," Rivera said.

EDC said a $200,000 scholarship and grant opportunity is currently being developed for low-income students in collaboration with Rivera and a community advisory board, which has representatives from groups such as Loisaida, Inc., Community Board 3, Lower East Side Employment Network, as well as Civic Hall and RAL Development.

"This center will provide training to our youth and all residents for living-wage tech jobs for the 21st century economy," Community Board 3's chair Alysha Lewis-Coleman said. "It will additionally provide space and amenities for the community and opportunities for emerging entrepreneurs."

Preservationist group Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation has long been critical of the project.

Its director Andrew Berman has raised concerns about RAL Development's lobbying and donations to Mayor Bill de Blasio's now-defunct non-profit.

Berman also advocated for nearly 200 buildings to be landmarked to prevent buildings like this from being erected south of Union Square, though ultimately, the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission designated seven, including Strand Bookstore, under negotiations with Rivera.

Rivera is also pushing to change zoning rules so that future hotels require a special permit in the area, which has not yet come to fruition.

Berman said Monday, "The majority of this project is purely for-profit commercial office space being built on highly valuable public land for a song, when other bidders on the project would have included more public space and benefits and not required the commercial upzoning so opposed by the neighborhood."

The project is expected to be complete in 2020.