Kinsmen Property Group has filed a land use application with the Department of City Planning to build 322 homes across three mixed-use, mixed-income buildings at 156-166 Bowery in Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood. The New York City-based development firm previously filed plans to demolish the vacant buildings on the site in October 2024, and the lot now sits empty.
The proposal calls for a 29-story building with 124 affordable apartments reserved for seniors, plus two 26-story buildings with 99 mixed-income units each. The pair of shorter towers would also include ground-floor retail space, with 3,260 square feet and 4,391 square feet respectively. Architects Kohn Pedersen Fox and Beyer Blinder Belle are designing the project.
A project shaped by years of false starts
The site has a complicated recent history. In 2022, previous owner Real Estate Equities Corporation filed plans for a seven-story, 73,000-square-foot retail and office building on the property. That project stalled, and it’s unclear whether REEC still holds the 99-year ground lease it signed in 2020 for $50 million. Kinsmen purchased the properties in separate deals in 2016 and 2017 for a combined $53.5 million, according to records.
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Kinsmen principal Ari Zagdanski framed the new filing as a response to citywide housing pressure. “We are excited to bring more than 300 new homes to Lower Manhattan at a time when housing is urgently needed across the city,” he said in a statement. “This project is designed to honor the rich history of the Bowery while also addressing the city’s housing needs head-on.”
The development is expected to enter public review through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure by the end of the year. That process typically takes months and involves multiple community boards, borough presidents, and ultimately the City Council.
The timing is notable. The city’s housing shortage has become a defining political issue, and elected officials are under growing pressure to show they can deliver new units — especially affordable ones. Projects like this one, which bundle senior housing with mixed-income units, tend to draw less opposition than market-rate-only towers, though the Bowery’s status as a historic corridor means design and scale will likely get scrutiny.
Local support tied to a nearby housing fight
Councilmember Christopher Marte, who represents the area, is partnering with Kinsmen through the approval process. He called the project a “critical benchmark” for the Bowery because it would deliver the same number of senior affordable units that were previously planned for the Elizabeth Street Garden site a few blocks away. Those housing plans were officially scrapped earlier this month.
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“Soon, hundreds of seniors and families will be able to affordably live downtown, all while benefiting from the beauty, respite and community that the garden has to offer,” Marte said. “I am excited to continue my unwavering support for this project and the garden alike, both critical resources New Yorkers need to thrive.”
The garden itself remains a separate matter. The city had pursued housing on that site for years, and the decision to abandon those plans was a win for neighborhood advocates who fought to preserve the green space. Whether the Bowery project picks up that slack depends on how the ULURP process unfolds — and whether the community raises concerns about density, shadows, or the loss of the existing structures.
For now, the filing moves the project from concept to formal review. The next visible step will be certification from the Department of City Planning, which triggers the public hearing schedule. Kinsmen has not released a timeline for construction or a projected completion date.
