Gotham Organization Inc.’s $520-million Gotham West, a four-building, mixed-use residential building that spans from West 44^th to West 45^th Streets between 10^th and 11^th Avenues in Manhattan, broke ground on Nov. 7. The 1,200-unit complex, scheduled for completion in 2014, is expected to create more than 2,900 construction and construction-related jobs and 34 permanent jobs over the next three years.

Rendering Courtesy of Gotham Organization Inc.

The groundbreaking follows an agreement reached in June in which key New York City unions, including laborers and structural trades, agreed to a 20% wage cut for work on the Gotham West project.

Gotham Construction Co. LLC, an affiliate of Gotham Organization, is the construction manager on the project that will feature a 31-story tower and 550 luxury apartments and include such amenities as a sky terrace, 10,000 sq ft of indoor recreational space, a 10,000-sq-ft courtyard, on-site parking garage and bicycle storage. The project, which is being designed by Schuman Lichtenstein Claman and Efron, New York City will also include 682 income-restricted housing units. A new state-of-the-art public elementary school will also be built adjacent to the project, and Gotham is also planning to renovate an historic 1904 school building into residential condominiums on the same site. The school is expected to be completed by fall 2013.

In connection with the Housing Partnership, a non-profit group, a Gotham affiliate purchased the historic land from the city through the Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development and will contribute $20 million to affordable housing needs in Manhattan and $15 million to partially fund the public school, according to Gotham.