Preservation Group Criticizes Union Square 'Tech Hub': Report

EAST VILLAGE, NY — A Greenwich Village preservation group continues to rail against the plans for a 21-story 'Tech Hub' on Union Square, the New York Daily News reported.

A 21-story tech center to replace the former P.C. Richard & Son store on East 14th Street, called the Union Square Tech Training Center, was approved by City Council last summer after pushback from preservationists and neighbors in Greenwich Village who are fearful of a so-called "Silicon Alley" spreading through the Village.

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation is reviving its criticisms — accusing the city and the developer, RAL, of a "sweetheart deal" based on information regarding the developer's annual rent on the city-owned property as well as donations to Mayor Bill de Blasio, the News reported.

RAL Development Services will pay about $1.6 million per year in rent and $2.3 million annually in the five years following that, the News reported. The two-story P.C. Richard & Son paid $1.7 million annually.

"It seems highly suspect that the developer of a 21-story office tower is paying barely more than the operator of a 2-story appliance and electronics store for use of this incredibly valuable land," Andrew Berman, head of the preservation group, told the Daily News.

Berman also pointed out that Andrew Rasiej, head of the non-profit Civic Hall that will run a tech training center at the building, donated $8,000 to de Blasio since 2004, and RAL has donated $10,000 in 2015 to de Blasio's former non-profit Campaign for One New York, the News wrote.

A spokeswoman for the mayor, Jane Meyer, told the News, "The best applicant was chosen." She added the donations had nothing to do with RAL being chosen as the developer.

RAL said in a statement to Curbed, "We're incredibly pleased to move forward with a project enjoying enormous support and offering a multitude of benefits to the City and its workforce through the agreement with [the Economic Development Corporation."

The spokesperson for RAL added, "GVSHP and Andrew Berman continue to surprise us with their creative attempts to slander the project and its process."

The Tech Hub will rise about 21-stories tall in place of P.C. Richard & Son on East 14th Street between Third and Fourth avenues. The site is expected to create more than 600 jobs and house a tech training center run by Civil Hall.

Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, who held a pivotal vote in the project that went through the lengthy uniform land use review procedure, saw the up-zoning to allow for the project as a worthy compromise for the neighborhood.

"I knew we had a rare opportunity to bring new pathways to success to the neighborhoods near Avenue D where I grew up, while also providing us leverage to fight for neighborhood protections that have gone ignored by two Mayors," Rivera wrote in an open letter last summer.

Some have strongly opposed the project — fearing how the taller buildings and a so-called "Silicon Alley" of tech offices are spreading southward through the Village.

Berman has pushed for a larger, sweeping historic district in light of the Tech Hub's approval, though ultimately, the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission calendared hearings on seven individual landmarks designations, including Strand Bookstore. The compromise also included a commitment from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to work with neighbors on protecting tenants.

For the full New York Daily News report, click here.