Wealthy Manhattan Neighborhood in Uproar Over Plans To Build $3.9 Billion Jail in Community

A trendy Manhattan neighborhood is in an uproar over plans to build a multibillion dollar jail.

As part of New York City's plan to close the notorious Rikers Island, new "community-based" jails are being built in all NYC boroughs except Staten Island—and that includes pricey Manhattan.

The location will be 214-215 White St. in a downtown neighborhood with an astonishing median price tag of $4,285,750.

"It's very atypical," federal prison consultant Jack Donson tells Realtor.com® of the Chinatown location. "Prisons are ordinarily built outside of urban areas."

Chinatown, sometimes called "East Tribeca" or "Two Bridges" in an attempt by real estate agents to glam up the area, has seen a 7.3% price bump since December 2019, peaking at just under $5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to Realtor.com data.

That's as steep as Nantucket, MA, ($5.3 million) and much pricier than Palm Beach, FL ($3.2 million).

Neighbors are not happy.

"Blood on your hands," posted one attendee at a recent Zoom meeting to go over details of the plan, according to The City. "That's why you are wearing a pink shirt," the same person told a representative from Tutor Perini, the firm contracted to build the jail.

"You’re going to be wasting years of time and billions of community dollars," asserted another.

The $3.9 billion jail, designed by HOK, will be across from Columbus Park, with heavily trafficked Canal Street as a cross street. A two-bedroom condo, an eight minute walk away from the new jail, is listed for $1.4 million.

The 1,040-bed jail that can house 4,500 detainees is expected to be completed in 2032, according to The City. It is projected to reach 300 feet tall, making it the tallest jail in the world.

Neighbors are also displeased with the idea of constant construction. Crews plan to work from 6 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Friday, and then from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

Advocacy group Neighbors United Below Canal (NUBC) has filed a lawsuit to halt the project. The group contends that the site should be used for affordable housing instead and points out that the jail could be built on the site of the old Metropolitan Correctional Center at 150 Park Row.

That center closed in 2021, a few years after accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein died there by suicide in 2019, and has been sitting empty ever since.

"It’s in an area that would be far less dangerous to build on," NUBC co-founder Jan Lee told the outlet. (Realtor.com reached out to the group for comment.) However, that site belongs to the federal government, not the city.

Donson questions whether the new costly jails will make any real difference in the lives of detainees.

"Is the answer closing [Rikers] and not addressing the systemic dysfunctional bureaucracy?" he asks.

Why are new jails needed?

Critics of Rikers Island say that its inconvenient location—it sits on a small island in the East River between The Bronx and LaGuardia Airport—means that inmates have to get up as early as 3 a.m. to make court appointments in the city.

The exhausting commute has allegedly been used to pressure detainees into pleading guilty. Additionally, it is extremely difficult for loved ones or legal counsel to visit the jail.

The new "community-based" jails—plopped in the midst of neighborhoods where valuations have skyrocketed—are all situated close to courthouses for convenience.

What will happen to home values in the area?

"The construction of a new jail usually puts downward pressure on prices, as would-be homeowners are reluctant to have a large fortified building in their neighborhood and fears of late-night traffic and crime (though unfounded) increase," says Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com.

"Nobody wants a prison near them, I don't think it's crazy to say that," Douglas Elliman top 1% rental agent Keyan Sanai, who reps in the neighborhood, tells Realtor.com. "It's not a positive."

But he argues that it isn't necessarily a big negative either. "It's a maximum security prison," he says. "What are you worried about? When is the last time you heard of a prison break?"

"It adds a level of safety," he adds. "There will be armed guards outside."

He makes the case that those who find the perfect downtown pad won't let a nearby prison stop them from residing in their nabe of choice.

"It's New York. We all live on top of each other. This isn't California, where you have the 'nice' area and then you drive 15 minutes to the 'bad' area," he says.

"It's not uncommon to go to someone's $20 million apartment and next door is Section 8 [low income] housing. That's Manhattan. It's an island with a finite amount of space."

"Real estate hinges on both reality and perception," Jenny Lenz, managing director of Dolly Lenz Real Estate in Manhattan, tells Realtor.com. "A jail is a textbook stigma use, even without any real change to safety or crime levels. Some buyers and renters will automatically discount nearby properties simply because they dislike the association."

"However, the effect would be very localized," she adds. "The adjacent properties might take a hit, but a few blocks away, the impact will be less noticeable."

A jail doesn't always hurt prices

One need not look too far for an example of a neighborhood that didn't suffer from the presence of a jail.

An old correctional facility on bustling Atlantic Avenue in the Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn didn't stop the surrounding area from exploding with high-end retail and residential buildings.

That jail was torn down and a new detention center is being built on the same site. Designed by HOK and developed by the NYC Department of Design and Construction, the 339-foot-tall building will span 712,150 square feet and house 1,040 inmates. 

Atlantic Avenue is known for its shopping and boasts a Trader Joe's, Barnes and Noble, Michaels, and PetSmart—all essentially across the street from the jail.

Minutes away are Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill, two of the most coveted and family-friendly neighborhoods in Brooklyn, with median home price tags of $2.95 million and $2.42 million, respectively.

Brooklyn also has a detention center in Sunset Park, one that has seen quite a few notorious inmates, including rapper P. Diddy, accused United Healthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione, and exiled Chinese billionaire Miles Guo.

The median home price in the area is $650,000—well over the national median list price of $399,950.