A serious donor to a political committee backing Mayor Eric Adams’ quixotic re-election bid has been named by the mayor’s workforce to redevelop a city-owned workplace constructing in Decrease Manhattan into 3,700-units of blended earnings housing — at a value that’s not public.
On Monday, Adams introduced that GFP Actual Property, a significant developer owned by the Gural household, has signed on to transform the 656,000-square-foot workplace constructing at 100 Gold Road into flats, at the least 25% of which shall be designated as reasonably priced. The Brutalist-style workplace constructing at present homes a number of metropolis companies, together with the Division of Housing Preservation and Growth.
The agency’s CEO, Jeffrey Gural, and his kinfolk contributed a major sum to assist Adams’ longshot unbiased reelection run. They gave a complete of $45,000 to Empower NYC, a political motion committee backing Adams, whereas his agency was bidding on 100 Gold St.
As a result of Gural is on a listing of people that do enterprise with the town, he was solely capable of give $400 to Adams’ 2025 marketing campaign.
Weeks earlier than the Gurals wrote their checks to Empower, GFP had submitted a bid to the town’s Financial Growth Company (EDC) to accumulate 100 Gold St. and switch it into housing.
On the time, Adams was floundering within the polls, operating on the backside of the pack beneath even Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee. The truth is, Empower stopped spending three weeks after the Gurals began giving, and Adams dropped out of the race six weeks after the Gural’s donations arrived at Empower NYC.
When THE CITY reported on these donations in September, Jeffrey Gural mentioned that he and his kinfolk gave to Empower as a result of, in August, they nonetheless felt Adams had a shot, significantly if ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo obtained out of the race. Cuomo stayed in and misplaced to Zohran Mamdani in November. Gural had given $25,000 to a political committee backing Cuomo in April months earlier than Cuomo misplaced the first.
In response to THE CITY’s inquiry Monday about GFP’s profitable the 100 Gold St. competitors, Gural wrote, “I had nothing to do with this. My nephew dealt with the entire thing.”
The Financial Growth Company chosen the developer via a aggressive course of. EDC declined to disclose the phrases underneath which GFP would purchase improvement rights for the constructing, making it unimaginable to know whether or not the deal favors the developer or the taxpayers.
Metropolis Corridor spokesperson Daniel Marans mentioned the donations had nothing to do with the choice of Gural’s agency, stating, “As with all aggressive bidding processes, the town chosen GFP Actual Property to develop the 100 Gold St. property based mostly on the agency’s expertise and dedication to constructing reasonably priced housing, creating jobs, and investing in the neighborhood. Any suggestion on the contrary is ridiculous.”
“With GFP Actual Property on board, we’re creating 1000’s of houses, increasing affordability, and delivering new group facilities,” Adolfo Carrión, Jr, the deputy mayor for housing, financial improvement, and workforce, mentioned in an announcement.
In an announcement, GFP Actual Property co-CEO and principal Brian Steinwurtzel mentioned the agency was “honored to have been chosen” and seemed ahead to “a collaborative course of with the group, native leaders, and our companions in authorities.”
The town-owned, Brutalist constructing situated close to the Brooklyn Bridge at present homes HPD, in addition to different companies and a senior heart. The EDC mentioned the constructing, which was constructed within the sixties, would wish vital, expensive repairs.
As a part of the redevelopment plan, the companies and organizations at 100 Gold shall be relocated, which might occur in 2029, in accordance with a February EDC presentation. The proceeds from the sale of 100 Gold pays for the brand new house the entities will transfer into.
Of all of the anticipated flats, about 900 of these flats are slated to be reasonably priced, with out taxpayer-funded subsidies from the Division of Housing Preservation and Growth.
The redevelopment will even embrace a newly constructed senior heart, a health heart and practically one acre of public open house. Beforehand, EDC mentioned the developer might embrace retail on the brand new improvement’s floor ground and would improve the streetscape with enhancements like higher lighting or wider sidewalks.
The undertaking might want to undergo the town’s prolonged environmental assessment course of earlier than development can start.
The housing for 100 Gold was a part of the Adams administration’s rationale for killing the proposed reasonably priced senior flats at Elizabeth Road Backyard. The administration had beforehand supported the long-planned undertaking on the Decrease Manhattan house, however did an about-face. Led by Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, the town mentioned it will construct housing not on the city-owned lot the place the backyard was however on 100 Gold and two different websites as a substitute.
Oksana Mironova, a housing coverage analyst with the Neighborhood Service Society, mentioned the trade-off of affordability would seemingly not be comparable.
“If there’s 900 models with out subsidy, no manner they’re going to be as reasonably priced as those that may’ve been constructed on the Elizabeth Road Backyard web site,” Mironova mentioned.
Mironova had lengthy held that the town ought to leverage its possession of 100 Gold to develop everlasting reasonably priced housing for residents with very low incomes.
