Once synonymous with meatpackers and market stalls, Manhattan’s Gansevoort Square now stands at the center of another kind of scarcity: housing. In a neighborhood that has become a playground for the wealthy with the Whitney Museum, the High Line, and new luxury condominiums crowding its cobblestone blocks, the number of apartments has actually fallen. According to a 2023 New York Times analysis, the West Village and surrounding districts are among the wealthiest areas where smaller apartments have been combined into sprawling single-family residences. Citywide, these types of apartment expansions have contributed to a loss of more than 100,000 homes since 1950.
The need for new housing in this area is substantial. While Manhattan’s Community District 2 added few affordable units over the past decade, it lost many more through consolidation and conversion. As New Yorkers head to the polls today to decide Ballot Proposal 2, a measure that would fast-track approvals for publicly financed affordable housing, the city has announced one of its most high-profile redevelopment efforts yet.
The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) has announced a joint venture of Douglaston Development and Kinwood Partners, collectively known as Gansevoort Square Partners, will lead the redevelopment of a city-owned site in the Meatpacking District. Designed by MVRDV and CetraRuddy, the project will deliver 590 mixed-income housing units, with up to 55 percent designated permanently affordable.
Located on Little West 12th Street between Washington Street and 10th Avenue, the development is part of the broader plan to “reimagine” Gansevoort Square, an initiative first announced in 2024 that includes the expansion of the Whitney Museum of American Art and improvements to the High Line’s operations facility. The new residential building will feature ground-floor community and retail spaces meant to extend the cultural corridor connecting the Whitney, Little Island, Hudson River Park, and the High Line.
Gansevoort Square’s story stretches back more than two centuries. The area, originally known as Old Kill Road, was renamed in 1837 to honor General Peter Gansevoort, a Revolutionary War hero. During the War of 1812, Fort Gansevoort was constructed on the site to defend against a possible British invasion. The fort was demolished in 1851 to create landfill for what would become Gansevoort Market, an open-air farmers’ market that officially opened in 1884.
By the early 20th century, the district had transformed into the Meatpacking District, a dense hub of slaughterhouses and processing facilities that defined its industrial identity. The construction of the High Line elevated rail in 1929 further shaped its working character, linking the area to Manhattan’s broader freight network.
After decades of decline beginning in the 1960s, the Meatpacking District underwent a dramatic revitalization in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Its cobblestone streets and warehouses became home to new galleries, boutiques, and institutions like the Whitney Museum. The name “Gansevoort Square” now returns as the title for a new chapter focused on housing, cultural investment, and urban design.
“We’re honored to help shape the next chapter of the Meatpacking District,” said David Himmel, founder and managing partner of Kinwood Partners. “We’re creating a place where world-class architecture, inviting retail, new public spaces and meaningful affordable housing come together to ensure this neighborhood thrives as one of New York’s most dynamic and inclusive places to live.”
Construction is expected to begin as early as 2028, following the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), anticipated to conclude by the end of 2027. The full Gansevoort Square redevelopment, including the housing project and Whitney Museum expansion, is projected to create 3,700 construction jobs, 160 permanent positions, and $1.1 billion in economic activity.
The project arrives amid the Adams administration’s push to unlock city-owned properties for housing. Under Executive Order 43, issued in 2024, city agencies were directed to identify public sites suitable for residential development; the administration says it has advanced plans for nearly 10,000 new homes through the initiative so far.
“The Gansevoort Square project is a critical opportunity to use scarce public land to bring over 300 affordable homes to Manhattan’s Community District 2, which is twice as many as the district built over the last decade,” said Andrew Fine, chief of staff and policy director at Open New York. “Our housing crisis demands that every neighborhood take action to create more housing, and yet the West Village lost housing last year. This project is an important step toward making the West Village once again a place for everyone—not just the wealthy few.”
→ Continue reading at The Architect's Newspaper
