324 E. 5th St. development will include affordable housing, a senior center, community space and replacement parking
First City land designation of the Mamdani administration advances community ownership through partnership with a community land trust
Today, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg and Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Dina Levy announced that an underutilized NYPD parking lot in the East Village will be transformed into The Aurea, a mixed-use development with approximately 131 affordable homes, a senior center, community space and replacement parking facilities.
The City is designating the site to a development team consisting of Spatial Equity, Housing Works, the Cooper Square Committee and the This Land is Ours Community Land Trust, mission-driven, minority-owned and non-profit organizations with decades of experience investing in and serving the neighborhood.
The designation marks the first City land award of the Mamdani administration and will include a community land trust as a development partner, ensuring long-term affordability, community stewardship and meaningful tenant oversight.
The Aurea will provide deeply affordable homes for low-income New Yorkers, with 30% of apartments reserved for formerly homeless New Yorkers. Housing Works will provide on-site supportive services for residents. The project will also feature landscaped terraces, green roofs and all-electric building systems designed to meet Passive House sustainability standards.
“We're turning an NYPD parking lot into approximately 131 affordable homes, a senior center and community space because public land should serve the public,” said Mayor Mamdani. “This project will provide permanently affordable housing, create homes for formerly homeless New Yorkers and put community stewardship at its center through a community land trust. It's the first City land designation of our administration, and it's exactly the kind of housing we're committed to building across the five boroughs: deeply affordable, community-led and worthy of the greatest city in the world.”
“The Aurea delivers on many of our housing goals: delivering affordable housing, including for formerly homeless New Yorkers, making good use of City-owned land, fulfilling community-informed rezoning commitments, and supporting a community land trust. This development will strengthen the community for many years to come,” said Leila Bozorg, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning. “Congratulations to the development team and the City staff who have shepherded this project to this milestone.”
“In one of the city's highest opportunity neighborhoods, we are proud to work with our partners to create 131 new affordable homes, serving low income New Yorkers, including seniors. This development will not only provide much-needed housing, but also community space for the neighborhood. Today's announcement is a testament to what can happen when we are able to cut through the red tape and unlock public land to build new affordable housing,” said HPD Commissioner Dina Levy.
The Request for Proposals (RFP) for the site was shaped by extensive public input, including feedback gathered through the SoHo/NoHo Neighborhood Plan, multilingual outreach and a public community workshop. The designation reflects years of organizing by neighborhood residents and the City’s commitment to ensuring public land delivers lasting public benefit.
This project advances key priorities in Block by Block: The Housing Plan for a New Era. Through Mayor Mamdani’s first adopted budget, the City is investing nearly $5 billion in capital funding for new affordable development over the next two fiscal years while adding 41 new staff positions to accelerate housing production. Block by Block also expands support for community land trusts like This Land is Ours, recognizing the essential role they play in preserving permanent affordable housing and strengthening community ownership.
Redeveloping 324 East 5th Street also advances the administration’s commitment to building affordable housing on City-owned land. On his first day in office, Mayor Mamdani signed Executive Order 4, creating the Land Inventory Fast Track (LIFT) Task Force to identify City-owned sites that can be transformed into housing for working-class New Yorkers.
Block by Block sets ambitious goals that meet the scale of New York City’s housing crisis by building 200,000 new affordable homes and preserving another 200,000 over the next decade. The plan also strengthens tenant protections and housing code enforcement, invests in NYCHA’s future by restoring its role as a public developer, expands pathways to homeownership opportunities and supports the workers building the homes New Yorkers need.
Street-level view from across East 5th Street
Residential and community facility entrances
Outdoor terrace space and green roof
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