Trinity To Build Luxury Residential Apartment Towers

Skyscrapers and Trinity Church 1905
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection. 

Trinity Church is the city's largest landholder among religious institutions. Trinity owns 8% of the 215 acres Trinity was granted by the King and Queen of England over 300 years ago having granted land to churches, schools and other institutions. Trinity Church is one of the largest commercial landlords in New York City. 

Trinity owns almost 6 million square feet of Manhattan office space. It turned productive farmland to industrial and office space.

According to Crains NY Business, "in the next few weeks, the Episcopal church—whose property arm, Trinity Real Estate, oversees the 5.5 million square feet of office buildings it owns on the western fringe of SoHo in an area called Hudson Square—will try something new. It will venture into the high-stakes game of residential development."

Trinity will build as many as four luxury residential towers there, as well as one partially residential property near Wall Street. 

Trinity's first step will come before the year-end, when it selects a partner to help rebuild its 25-story headquarters on Trinity Place. The building is across the street from Trinity's landmark church and linked to its famous cemetery—the final resting place of Alexander Hamilton, among others—via a pedestrian bridge. Work converting the office building to a sleek, 44-story Pelli Clarke Pelli-designed tower, topped by luxury residences, will begin next year.

Rendering courtesy of:  Pelli Clarke Pelli of the mixed-use tower Trinity Church plans to erect on Trinity Place in the Financial District.

Trinity is the ’hood’s largest property owner. Hudson Square was once known as the Printing District. Last year the City Council approved a massive rezoning allowing the church—Hudson Square's largest landlord, with more than a dozen office buildings—to build residences for the first time.

Bounded by the Hudson River, Soho, Tribeca and the West Village, Hudson Square has eclectic characteristics borrowed from its surrounding neighborhoods. While Hudson Square shares Soho's trendy vibe and low-rise architectural aesthetic, it also maintains a touch of Tribeca's elegance.

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