Hudson Mosaic, a proposed mixed-use tower for a vacant lot in Manhattan’s Hudson Square neighborhood designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Curtis + Ginsberg, is slated to become the tallest building in Greenwich Village.
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD), Department of Parks & Recreation (NYC Parks), and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) selected Camber Property Group, Services for the UnderServed, and Essence Development last week to develop the site. Herzog & de Meuron will be the design architect and Curtis + Ginsberg the architect of record.
Services for the UnderServed previously collaborated with Marvel on an affordable residential tower in the Bronx, as reported by AN. At 388 Hudson Street, Herzog & de Meuron envisions a tower with “nearly” 280 affordable units that rests on a podium containing a sizable community center.
Renderings show the podium broken up into staggering volumes expressed in brick, glass, and screening. The tower component will rise over 300 feet and have bay windows on the north-south elevations. The footprint will utilize only a portion of the site to allow for an exterior basketball court on the ground plane.
“At once iconic and responsive, the project weaves residential and public programs into a cohesive architectural statement, grounded in brick materiality, public art, and a shared civic identity,” the architects shared in a description of the design.
The tower component will rise over 300 feet and have bay windows on the north-south elevations. (Courtesy Hudson Mosaic Development Team)
Of the 280 or so units, 15 percent will be for formerly homeless New Yorkers. Herzog & de Meuron in a statement said the building will be all-electric and incorporate Passive House strategies in order to meet Local Law 97’s energy efficiency targets. The building will combat extreme heat or flooding scenarios with a backup power system, rooftop solar panels, and a green roof.
The community center will have a six-lane swimming pool with large, north-south oriented windows that look out onto JJ Walker Park and Hudson Houston Plaza. It will also have a full court, high school regulation basketball gymnasium for sport and assemblies. An indoor track, cardio and strength rooms, a media lab, and flexible multipurpose rooms will also abound.
The community center will have a six-lane swimming pool with large, north-south oriented windows that look out onto JJ Walker Park and Hudson Houston Plaza. (Courtesy Hudson Mosaic Development Team)
This will make it the first development on city land that co-locates 100 percent affordable housing with a recreation center, according to Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Adolfo Carrión, Jr.
From Parkland to Housing
The land is today owned by the DEP. It has long been used to house hatchways and air vents to support New York City’s Water Tunnel No. 3, an infrastructure project authorized back in 1954. The tunnel is nearing completion, opening up 388 Hudson Street for redevelopment.
City officials initially said 388 Hudson Street would be a park. In 2021, Community Board 2 urged the city to build housing there instead.
Given its location in a historic district, the developers went back and forth with the city and preservation groups about the building’s height, unit count, and programming, culminating in the latest design by Herzog & de Meuron. The design is informed by a Community Visioning Report issued in April 2024 by HPD.
In addition a swimming pool, Hudson Mosaic will have a high school regulation basketball court. (Courtesy Hudson Mosaic Development Team)
Rohit T. Aggarwala, DEP Commissioner, called the land at 388 Hudson Street “underutilized.” Acting Commissioner of HPD Ahmed Tigani said in a statement the deviation from the original park proposal to an affordable residential tower is in response to “a generational housing crisis.”
A construction timeline for Hudson Mosaic hasn’t been issued.
In the coming months the development team will work closely with HPD, DEP, and Parks to solicit public input, obtain approvals, and secure financing so shovels can hit the ground and tenants can move in.