On the edge of the Meatpacking District, 458 West 17th Street was part of a six-building, City-owned and managed group of properties, seized in the late 1970s and net leased to CHDC in the mid-1990s. Built as a typical old-law tenement, this building had three- to four-room apartments, with tubs in the kitchens, and toilets in the hallways. By this point in the 1990s, almost all city owned buildings had been slated for renovation or rental for property ownership. With 6 buildings left, the City approached CHDC to request that we net lease these buildings.

The building was originally located in a manufacturing zone; a lone outpost with 12 apartments, half had been taken over by drug dealers that controlled the building’s long hallways with guards. At the same time, 6 apartments in the building were occupied by long-term senior citizens and families who were attempting to force the dealers out. Accessing hallway toilets became an increasing source of tension, as guards patrolled the drug distribution sites. In 1999, CHDC worked with existing tenants and pursued legal actions through the 10th Precinct to evict the drug dealers and squatters occupying vacant apartments. The building, though structurally sound, was in poor condition, and required a full gut renovation.

After securing financing through the Neighborhood Redevelopment Program and equity generated from Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, the building required a temporary relocation of the 6 existing tenants for renovations, all of whom returned. Construction was completed in December 2002, and tenants returned to their apartments shortly thereafter.

Following the West Chelsea rezoning in 2005, 458 West 17th Street now sits adjacent to the High Line and other newly constructed residential buildings. Since the building sits in the flood zone, in 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused the sewers to back up into the building, resulting in a loss of power, and tens of thousands of dollars in damages. As weather-related events become more and more frequent, CHDC will further renovate the building to control and manage future flooding-related damage. The heating system will be relocated from the cellar to the roof, and the mechanical room will be dry floodproofed. Construction is expected to be completed in 2026.

Situated one block north of the Chelsea Market, 458 West 17th Street also contains two commercial tenants, including boutique Comme des Garçons and Sushi Noz, a Japanese omakase-style sushi restaurant. The building itself is a great example of a decorated tenement, contrasting the adjacent new high-rise construction, and a fine example of the neighborhood prior its rezoning and redevelopment.