Lower East Side Girls Club to develop 15,000-SF facility

Real Estate Weekly, June 5, 2002

New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) President Andrew M. Alper announced that the designation of the Lower Eastside Girls Club to develop approximately 15,000 SF of property on the lower eastside of Manhattan. The Girls Club plans to construct a new facility that will house a variety of community-related programs and activities.

"This project will provide hundreds of girls with new recreational facilities right in their own neighborhood." said Alper. "We look forward to working with the Girls Club and its many supporters as we take this development through the steps required to make it a reality. This important project-will provide needed community and educational services and also create approximately 140 jobs."

The site for the project consists of six adjoining vacant lots on Avenue D between East 7th and East 8th Streets. The Girls Club proposes construction of a seven-story building of approximately 82,000 SF. The building is expected to contain classrooms and recreational space to be shared with a school, an adolescent health care center and a daycare facility.

The project may also include space for job training and extracurricular programs and approximately 3,500 SF of retail space, as well as administrative offices for the Girls Club and approximately 500 SF for business incubators.

Lyn Pentecost, executive director, Lower Eastside Girls Club said, "In times of economic uncertainty when not-for-profits are called upon to provide more and more services to their communities, projects such as this are a win-win situation for all concerned."

The total cost of the development is estimated at $17.8 million. In addition to providing an array of needed educational, recreational and community services, the project will generate approximately 140 jobs.

The Girls Club proposal has received strong backing from numerous community groups and local elected officials, including Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, Council Members Margarita Lopez, Alan Gerson, Gale Brewer and Eva Moskowitz, Speaker Gifford Miller, State Senator Martin Connor, Assemblyman Sheldon Silver and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez.

"For the first time, every girl in my district will have a fighting chance to develop to her full capacity," said Council Member Margarita Lopez. "Mayor Michael Bloomberg is the reason why this miracle has happened. His approval for Lower Eastside Girls Club proposal is definitely the act of a guardian angel. Thank you, Mr. Mayor," stated Lopez.