St. Luke in the Fields files plans for 5,478-sf community building in West Village
497 Hudson Street rendering (Credit - BKSK Architects)
Caroline Stacey, rector of St. Luke in the Fields Church submitted a new building construction project for a 5,478 square-foot community facility building at 497 Hudson Street in West Village, Manhattan. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on August 5, 2025 under job number M01264489. It calls for the construction of a one-story building. The project is described in the filing as: construction of new 1-story community facility building.
The architects, BKSK Architects, discussed the project in a meeting with the Manhattan Community Board 2 Landmarks Committee on July 21, 2025, which was recoded and presented on YouTube.
The presentation said the new building will offer services such as 12-step Alcoholic Anonymous meetings, afterschool tutoring and arts, antiracism discussions, and “Art & Acceptance” for LGBTQ+ youth. Cultural events range from film screenings and concerts to flower arranging and icon workshops. Space is available for weddings, funerals, and community meetings, and a community closet provides essentials. The new center will not operate a homeless shelter, transitional housing, drug injection site, Narcan distribution, or a soup kitchen, according to the presentation.
The tax lot for the new project, lot 28, is taken from a portion of the existing lot 31.
The neighborhood
In West Village, The bulk, or 31 percent of the 10.6 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 27 percent of the space. In sales, West Village has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $804.5 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 13th highest in Manhattan. For development, West Village has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 26th highest in Manhattan. It had 852,021 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 8 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.
The block
On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 316,753 square feet. The largest is a 162,509 square-foot storage (S-2) building submitted by Caroline Stacey with plans filed March 3, 2016 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 148,766 square-foot storage (S-2) building submitted by Caroline Stacey with plans filed December 4, 2015 and permitted August 18, 2016.
Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.