A 16-story building in the Garment District that previously housed bankrupt office space-sharing provider WeWork has been offered as an emergency shelter for migrants.
Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has confirmed that the landlord of 315 West 36th Street is proposing to convert the building into the city’s Humanitarian Emergency Response and Asylum Seeker Relief Center.
A City Hall spokeswoman said the proposal had been received but was “not being actively considered”.
The commercial portion of the Garment District building has been vacant since WeWork defaulted on rent payments and filed for bankruptcy last fall, but the property owner, Walter & Samuels, defaulted on the mortgage on the property. Bisnow reported.
The building’s assessed value was $42 million, down from $127 million five years ago. The New York Times reported in November.
The property is located between 8th and 9th Avenues. Tabernacle Steakhousea kosher eatery is listed as a retail tenant at the same address.
It’s no surprise that the Adams administration is seeking to use even vacant commercial space to house the steady stream of immigrants arriving in the Big Apple.
Last spring, the Post reported that the city’s economic development authorities were scouring real estate listings and contacting brokers to see if they had available space in a desperate search for a place to shelter thousands of new arrivals. revealed.
Real estate sources said City Economic Development Corp. officials reviewed the list of companies interested in leasing or subletting, then emailed and called them about the availability of vacant office space.
Since the border crisis erupted in spring 2022, the city has supported, sheltered and fed approximately 200,000 migrants in 200 shelters, some of which have temporarily become emergency shelters. It includes many of the Big Apple’s hotels.
Hotel leases alone are expected to exceed $1 billion.
Mayors have opened large tent cities at Randall’s Island, the state-run Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens and Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, in some cases with the blessing of Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Biden administration. did.
Walter & Samuels declined to comment.
