Carl Weisbrod, below, former head of Trinity Real Estate, now a consultant, outlined Trinity’s rezoning proposal for Hudson Square — the former Printing District — at Community Board 2’s Land Use and Business Development Committee meeting last Thursday. Trinity wants to increase the manufacturing-zoned area’s residential occupancy from the current 4 percent to 25 percent over a 10-year period. Adding up to 3,500 new residents would increase vitality and foot traffic, supporting more retail stores in the underserved area. The plan’s centerpiece is a 429-foot residential tower — a basic massing study of which was shown last week, at right — slated for Duarte Square, at Canal St. and Sixth Ave. In the building’s bottom four stories, Trinity would provide the city with space free of charge — and rent-free in perpetuity — for a 100,000-square-foot public school. “What we’re offering is, frankly, a huge amount of lost revenue for Trinity,” Weisbrod said of the plan to give the school space to the city for nothing.
