501 West 52nd Street, originally a group of five separate buildings, included a one-story garage. The buildings were vacant except for 8 long-term tenants in two of the buildings. At 777 10th Avenue, two storefronts had been occupied by Housing Conservation Coordinators (HCC) since 1972. HCC, a tenant advocacy group, is a pivotal neighborhood organization, supporting and representing tenants in the neighborhood through waves of disinvestment, harassment, and gentrification. Each year, the organization helps more than 1,000 individuals and families by preventing evictions, educating them about their rights, weatherizing their buildings, and ensuring that they can continue to call this community home. CHDC was founded by volunteers and staff, originally from HCC.

In 1969, all properties on the six blocks bounded by West 50th Street to the south, West 56th Street to the north, 10th Avenue to the east, and 11th Avenue to the west, were designated and the majority acquired, by the City of New York as part of the Clinton Urban Renewal Area (CURA). In that era, urban renewal meant demolition and redevelopment of entire blocks with no regard for long-term residential and commercial tenants, or historic buildings. This location was proposed to be full blocks redeveloped with high rise towers. When the City’s fiscal crisis in 1975 intervened, all plans were put on hold.

In 1984, the City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), initiated a new plan to build two 18-story 80/20 towers on Tenth Avenue between 51st and 53rd Streets, with 80% market-rate apartments and 20% low-income housing apartments. Although the plan was supported by long-term CURA sponsor, the Clinton Housing Association (CHA), it was opposed by the residential, nonprofit, commercial, and manufacturing tenants in the CURA, Manhattan Community Board 4 (MCB4), and all local elected officials.

In response to that proposal, the neighborhood organized and formed the Clinton Preservation Local Development Corporation (CPLDC), a group consisting of long-term residential, commercial, not-for-profit, cultural, and manufacturing tenants, which opposed the plan. Though personally supported by Mayor Koch, the plan generated growing opposition over a 14-month period. In 1985, when the proposal reached the NYC Board of Estimate for land use approval, public support had collapsed. In response, for the only time in his administration’s 16-year term, the Mayor withdrew a pending redevelopment proposal. He then did not proceed with any affordable housing development in the Clinton Urban Renewal Area for the remainder of his time in office.

In 1994, as part of a complex political compromise with Manhattan Community Board 4 regarding the temporary relocation of a sanitation garage from under the Manhattan bridge to Manhattan Community District #4, a deal was struck to proceed with the redevelopment of the entire urban renewal area and CPLDC gained site control for redevelopment purposes of the CURA. Ultimately, it was not able to execute its vision of a combination of preserving residential, commercial, cultural, and manufacturing businesses combined with new affordable housing construction. In 1999, an umbrella group of community organizations called the CURA Coordinating Committee (CCC) joined together to develop an updated plan for the remaining CURA sites, based on the CPLDC’s long-stated planning vision for the community. The 1999 CCC Plan (“1999 Plan”) continued the key vision of accomplishing, through a balance of housing preservation and new construction, the following core goals:

• Maintain moderate- and low-income housing
• Promote a mix of land uses
• Protect existing tenants
• Maximize open space

The constituent groups of the CCC, CHDC, New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC), the CHA, and Clinton Association for a Renewed Environment (CARE), began to develop proposals for individual sites based upon the new plan.

In 2002, the City approached CHDC with a private developer and a plan for moderate renovation four 5-story walk ups at 501 West 52nd Street as well as 501 West 51st Street to the south under the Inclusionary Housing program. Because the building’s tenants had been there for decades, the City looked to renovate these buildings as a resource for Inclusionary Housing and use the development rights elsewhere. Inclusionary Housing zoning at that time enabled developers to renovate and gain a zoning bonus of four times the square footage of the original project. The development rights generated by that renovation ultimately benefited three luxury high-rise developments in Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen.

CHDC responded that they would only partner with the developer if the buildings were combined, gut renovated to CHDC standards, scope, and specifications, and if an elevator was installed. After discussions, the developer agreed to partner on those terms. In partnership with L&M Development Partners, CHDC designed and monitored the building in the development process. 501 and 505 West 51st Street was later added to that development initiative.

The main issue to solve was the temporary relocation of the long-term tenants, some of whom had been in continual residence for over fifty years. CHDC was able to temporarily relocate eight tenants one block to the south at 501 West 51st Street, or to other CHDC renovated buildings on Eleventh Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets during the construction period. HCC was temporarily relocated at temporary office at 500 West 52nd Street renovated by CHDC, so it could continue its advocacy work, uninterrupted. At project completion, all residential tenants returned to the new elevator building at affordable rents. HCC moved into renovated ground floor offices at its original location.

CHDC combined the four buildings into a single elevator building and demolished the garage to convert it into the Oasis Community Garden. The buildings were renovated in 2003 with new layouts. Today, there are 26 apartments, including studios to three-bedroom apartments serving existing tenants and neighborhood residents of households up to 80% AMI, as well as two commercial spaces: a restaurant and HCC’s headquarters.