Hush Street is tracking what’s being built in Manhattan’s Chelsea.
Chelsea’s biggest development stories are happening on public land. NYCHA, Related and Essence have won federal approval to demolish and rebuild the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses with up to 5,510 apartments, a plan still contested by tenants facing relocation. On Eleventh Avenue, the state has broken ground on Chelsea Beacon, turning the long-empty Bayview Correctional Facility into 131 affordable and supportive homes.
North of 23rd Street, the City Council’s 2025 Midtown South rezoning opened former manufacturing blocks to housing for the first time. Elsewhere, new rentals are using the state’s 485-x tax incentive and the City of Yes density bonus, and luxury condos keep filling the last lots near the High Line.
Where DOB records and press reports disagree on heights or unit counts, both are given. A permit is not treated as proof that construction has started.
| Project | Location | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses Redevelopment | W. 16th–27th Sts., Ninth–Tenth Aves. | Approved; Awaiting Permits |
| 2Chelsea Beacon (550 West 20th Street) | Eleventh Ave. at W. 20th St. | Early Work Underway |
| 3Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan (Chelsea Portion) | North of W. 23rd St., Sixth–Eighth Aves. | Approved Rezoning |
| 4Vanderbilt University NYC Campus (Former General Theological Seminary) | 440 W. 21st St. | Renovation Permitted |
| 5550 West 21st Street | 550 W. 21st St. | Topped Out |
| 6273 West 22nd Street | W. 22nd St. near Eighth Ave. | Filed; Site Work Permitted |
| 7335 and 345 West 25th Street | W. 25th St. near Eighth Ave. | Permitted |
| 8118 Tenth Avenue | Tenth Ave. at W. 17th St. | Filed (Plan Review) |
| 9212 West 29th Street | W. 29th St. near Seventh Ave. | Filed (Plan Review) |
| 10540 West 29th Street | W. 29th St. near Eleventh Ave. | Filed (Plan Review) |
| 11246 West 18th Street | W. 18th St. near Eighth Ave. | Under Construction |
| 12The Myles (142 West 21st Street) | W. 21st St. near Sixth Ave. | Nearing Completion |
| 13Hudson Arts Building (220 Eleventh Avenue) | Eleventh Ave. at W. 25th St. | Stalled at Foundation |
| 14Mabel (335 Eighth Avenue) | Eighth Ave. at W. 27th St. | Completed (2025) |
| 15The Andrea (280 Eighth Avenue) | Eighth Ave. at W. 24th St. | Completed (2025) |
Public Land, a Prison Conversion & a Rezoning
The projects that will change Chelsea most are public: a NYCHA rebuild, a state-owned landmark turned into housing, a university campus and a rezoning.
1
Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses Redevelopment
Chelsea's Most Contested Project
The City Reporter counts 18 buildings coming down and six replacement towers, with 73 households already relocated. A group of 24 Chelsea Addition households has a pending lawsuit, and opponents have argued the plan should have gone through the city’s ULURP land-use review.
Sources disagree on the cost, about $2 billion according to The Real Deal and YIMBY and $1.2 billion according to The City Reporter, and on the timeline: about three years for the first phase and about eight years for the full build-out, per YIMBY.
Sources: NYC DOB NOW jobs M01260000-I1, M01274330-I1 and M01215739-I1 (accessed Oct. 2026); New York YIMBY (Aug. 2026); The Real Deal (July 2026); The City Reporter (Sept. 2026)
2
Chelsea Beacon (550 West 20th Street)
A $167 Million Prison Conversion
The state chose the developers in 2024 and adopted a project plan in February 2025 that overrides local zoning. The governor’s office put the cost at $167 million, financed in part with low-income housing tax credits and state housing and economic development money.
Work so far is interior demolition and site preparation, so Hush Street describes it as early work rather than full construction.
Sources: Office of Gov. Kathy Hochul (Sept. 2026); New York YIMBY (Sept. 2026); NYC DOB NOW job M01314086-I1 and permits for BIN 1012284 (accessed Oct. 2026)
3
Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan (Chelsea Portion)
Opening Chelsea's Garment Blocks to Housing
The Council called it the largest residential neighborhood rezoning in two decades. Its effect in Chelsea will show up building by building as new filings arrive; the 35-story tower filed this month at 212 West 29th Street, below, sits in the rezoned band, though Hush Street has not confirmed that it relies on the new zoning. Exactly how many of the 42 blocks fall inside Chelsea has not been mapped here block by block.
Sources: NYC Planning ZAP 2024M0142; New York City Council (Aug. 2025); New York YIMBY (Aug. 2025)
4
Vanderbilt University NYC Campus (Former General Theological Seminary)
A University Moves Into the Close
The state Board of Regents gave the campus its last approval in November 2025, YIMBY reported, after the state attorney general approved the lease. YIMBY put the lease value at $44 million. This is a renovation, not new construction, so there is no DOB new-building filing.
Sources: NYC Landmarks permit COFA-26-09184 (Apr. 2026); New York YIMBY (Dec. 2025); New York YIMBY (Nov. 2025)
New Rentals, Condos & a Stalled Office Building
Private construction fills the last lots: rentals using new tax and density incentives, luxury condos near the High Line, and an office building stuck at its foundation.
5
550 West 21st Street
A Bankrupt Tower, Revived
Casco Development bought the site for $50 million in 2014, and the project later went into bankruptcy with $527 million of debt, according to YIMBY. Legion took it over with a $56 million Deutsche Bank loan and a $155 million construction loan from Eldridge. Corcoran Sunshine is handling sales.
Sources: New York YIMBY (July 2026); NYC DOB BIS job 121187820 and permits for BIN 1091577 (accessed Oct. 2026)
6
273 West 22nd Street
One of the Few Big Projects Paying the 485-x Wage
The Real Deal reported that TF Cornerstone is one of the few developers of a Manhattan project with more than 100 units to opt into the 485-x tax incentive’s construction wage requirement, and that the company bought the lot in 2012 for $35 million. In July, Community Board 4 pressed the developer on where the affordable apartments would be placed in the buildings.
Sources: NYC DOB NOW job M01268347-I1 (accessed Oct. 2026); The Real Deal (June 2026); Citizen Portal (Community Board 4 summary) (July 2026)
7
335 and 345 West 25th Street
Church Land Becomes Rentals
Timber Equities bought the church, school, convent and rectory site in August 2025, The Real Deal reported, and is using the 485-x tax incentive and the City of Yes affordable housing density bonus. TRD’s reporting gives the purchase price as both $48.5 million and $48.25 million.
Sources: NYC DOB NOW jobs M01305839-I1 and M01305858-I1 (accessed Oct. 2026); The Real Deal (Nov. 2025)
8
118 Tenth Avenue
A $53 Million High Line Site
Toll Brothers bought the site for $53 million in February 2026, YIMBY reported. It had sat empty since demolition around 2019 to 2020, through a series of ground-lease changes and earlier office plans that never went ahead.
Sources: NYC DOB NOW job M01373235-I1 (accessed Oct. 2026); New York YIMBY (Feb. 2026)
9
212 West 29th Street
A Tall Tower on a Narrow Lot
This is one of the newest filings on the page and sits in the band rezoned by the Midtown South plan. Its residential area is about 44,000 square feet, per YIMBY; DOB lists about 56,000 square feet of total construction.
Sources: NYC DOB NOW job M01438369-I1 (accessed Oct. 2026); New York YIMBY (Oct. 2026)
10
540 West 29th Street
A New Filing at the High Line's Edge
A block away, a 12-story, 60-unit building at 536 West 28th Street has been approved by DOB since mid-2025 but has no work permits, making these two a small cluster to watch on the edge of Hudson Yards.
Sources: NYC DOB NOW jobs M01448586-I1 and M01141757-I1 (accessed Oct. 2026); Marketproof (Oct. 2026)
11
246 West 18th Street
Mid-Block Condos Rising
An earlier, 10-story plan for the site was withdrawn in favor of the current building, one of several boutique condos filling mid-block lots between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.
Sources: New York YIMBY (Feb. 2026); NYC DOB NOW job M01135836-I1 and permits for BIN 1013857 (accessed Oct. 2026)
12
The Myles (142 West 21st Street)
Big Apartments Between Sixth and Seventh
The Myles reflects the luxury pattern on Chelsea’s eastern side: few, very large condos on an interior lot. Corcoran is handling sales.
Sources: New York YIMBY (Oct. 2026); NYC DOB NOW job M00766992-I1 (accessed Oct. 2026)
13
Hudson Arts Building (220 Eleventh Avenue)
Six Years of Foundation Permits
Work began in February 2020, paused for two years and resumed in early 2022, when Urbanize reported completion on pace for 2024. DOB records show only the foundation permit renewed every year since, with the structural application disapproved in 2019 and 2022. The “stalled” label is Hush Street’s reading of those records; the building is still being marketed for lease.
Sources: NYC DOB BIS job 121205463 and permits (accessed Oct. 2026); Urbanize New York (Feb. 2022); The Moinian Group
14
Mabel (335 Eighth Avenue)
Infill on Co-op Land
Mabel shows another route to new housing in Chelsea: Penn South, the cooperative, chose a developer to build on part of its own campus.
Sources: NYC DOB NOW job M00600672-I1 and certificates of occupancy (accessed Oct. 2026); MAG Partners; CityRealty (Oct. 2026)
15
The Andrea (280 Eighth Avenue)
Newly Open on Eighth Avenue
The Andrea is one of two recently completed rentals on this stretch of Eighth Avenue, along with Mabel three blocks north.
Sources: NYC DOB NOW job M00696323-I1 and certificates of occupancy (accessed Oct. 2026); New York YIMBY (Nov. 2025)
What We're Watching Next
The first demolition permit at Fulton or Elliott-Chelsea Houses, and the outcome of the tenants’ lawsuit, will be the most consequential Chelsea news of the coming year. Watch also for new filings in the Midtown South rezoning area north of 23rd Street, and for what happens to 210 Seventh Avenue, where the city demolished a fire-gutted building that had sat abandoned for about two decades.
North of 30th Street, the Stewart Hotel conversion at 371 Seventh Avenue and Hudson Yards are outside this tracker. Downtown, Hush Street tracks Tribeca and the Financial District, and in Midtown, Midtown East.
Header photo: the Elliott-Chelsea Houses from the High Line’s 26th Street viewing spur, February 2025, by Tdorante10, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
By Hush Street Editorial Updated Built from city filings and published reporting. About Hush Street
