NEW YORK | MID/LOW RISES | General Developments Updates/Compilation

[Hypothalamus]

NY Daily News:

Arverne East development could get a jump start this year with housing and retail plan
City Councilman Donovan Richards says affordable housing must be part of any Arverne East plan

BY LISA L. COLANGELO
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, April 22, 2014, 2:00 AM


CHRISTIE M FARRIELLA/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
City Councilman Donovan Richards discusses potential plans at the Arverne East redevelopment site located on stretch of land along the beach between Beach 56th Street and Beach 32 Street in Rockaway.

This could be the year that Arverne East finally comes alive.

City Councilman Donovan Richards said he is pushing the city — and prodding developers — to move ahead with plans to build affordable housing and retail on a portion of the dormant 80-acre site in Rockaway.

“We’re at a pinnacle time here,” said Richards (D-Laurelton). “Mayor de Blasio has set a (city-wide) goal of 200,000 affordable units and the developer is in a good place.”

Richards said he is meeting with officials from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development on Tuesday to discuss the project’s future.

He is optimistic that shovels could be in the ground within the year.

Richards is insistent that affordable housing be included in any plan — saying it could be on a sliding scale that would include teachers, firefighters and police officers.

“We don’t want the beach gentrified,” he said.

Community Board 14 officials, who had originally argued the local economy needed a boost from pricier market-rate housing, said they are not opposed to affordable housing.

The Arverne East site was cleared as part of urban renewal plans of the late 1960s. But various plans to build on the site never materialized. The latest project calls for a mix of housing and commercial development as well as a nature preserve.

“We want mostly homeownership, condos and houses so that they have a vested interest in the community,” said Jonathan Gaska, the district manager of Community Board 14. “We are willing to have a conversation about affordable housing, but everyone is talking around us and not to us.”

The urban renewal area was cleared more than 40 years ago, leaving valuable beachfront property between Beach 56th St. and Beach 32nd St.

But a series of ambitious plans to develop housing, commercial space and even a sports and entertainment complex failed to materialize

In 2007, the city reached an agreement with L+M Development, Bluestone Organization and Triangle Equities to develop the site, but that plan was waylaid by the economic downturn. And then, in 2012, Hurricane Sandy devastated the peninsula.

Construction in areas closer to the water are still a way’s off because roads and other important infrastructure will need to be built, said Ron Moelis, the CEO of L&M, but that doesn’t mean the whole project must be stalled.

“There’s some land on the Edgemere side that already has infrastructure in place,” Moelis said. “We can build some housing and retail there."

CHRISTIE M FARRIELLA/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
The Arverne East site was cleared as part of urban renewal plans of the late 1960s. But various plans to build on the site never materialized. The latest project calls for a mix of housing and commercial development as well as a nature preserve.

[chris08876]

Renderings and Pricing out for Sleek Condos on Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill

Eight condos have hit the market at Barrett Development’s 440 Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill, with two- and three-bedrooms starting at $875,000. The thoroughly modern building replaced two decrepit 19th century townhouses and is still under construction.

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brownstoner.com/blog/2014/04/renderings-and-pricing-emerge-for-440-atlantic-avenue-condos/

[chris08876]

West Village Foundling on the Market

The downtown outpost of the New York Foundling is officially on the market, asking $47.5 million. True to the hype, the massive, 19,000-square-foot building is being marketed by superbroker Dolly Lenz as a single-family residential conversion. The official listing boasts six floorplans for the buildings cellar, four above-grade floors, and roof, as well as a rendering of what the site could look like after renovation.

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http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/0...2ea16a8b035de9

[chris08876]

Plans Filed for Extell's Block-Eating East 14th Street Project

Extell filed plans for two new 7-story retail/residential buildings that will swallow most of East 14th Street between Avenues A and B (h/t EV Grieve). Extell purchased eight parcels on the block last year, vacated all of the retail tenants, and is currently demolishing the old low-rise buildings that were once occupied by ABC Animal Hospital, the Blarney Cove, Pete's-a-Pizza, Stuyvesant Grocery, Bargain Bazaar, and more. The addresses for the new buildings, according to the plans, will be 500 and 524 East 14th Street. The lone holdout was the tenement at no. 520, which houses a Dunkin' Donuts, which is probably the one business East Villagers would have liked to see leave.

Both new buildings will rise seven stories. No. 500 will be larger, at 138,388 square feet with 106 units and 20,039 square feet of retail at street level. No. 524 will be 50,509 square feet and have 44 apartments, with 10,112 square feet of retail. The cellar level of no. 500 will have a fitness room, residents lounge, a playroom, and storage, plus a swimming pool and steam room, and the roof will have recreation space. No. 524 will only have storage and a rooftop deck, but maybe the amenities will be shared between the buildings? It's not yet known if any of the apartments will be set aside as affordable housing.

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http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/0...et_project.php

[chris08876]

Councilman Proposes Green Barriers


Proposed site for a green barrier at FDR East River Drive between 76th and 77th streets.

Proposed site for a green barrier at FDR East River Drive between 72nd and 73rd streets.

Proposed site for a green barrier at FDR East River Drive at 65th Street.

Manhattan District Five council member Brad Kallos is proposing improvements to the East Side Esplanade between 65th and 77th streets. Kallos is proposing the transfer of some unused space in the 12-block-span to the Parks Department who could reappoint it as part of the esplanade, granting more space to one of the borough's districts with the least open space per capita. Kallos is also asking for the installation of a "green noise barrier" between the esplanade and highway to mitigate noise pollution and increase area greenery.

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Zoe Rosenberg
http://ny.curbed.com/tags/east-river-esplanade

[chris08876]

Investors buy stake in Cobble Hill hospital project

A Borough Park investment group active in the acquisition of New York City hospitals closed yesterday on a 49 percent stake in the project to redevelop the Long Island College Hospital in Cobble Hill, sources told The Real Deal.

The group, including investor Chaim “Harry” Miller, bought the minority stake in Brooklyn Health Partners, the winning bidder to maintain the hospitals and use excess development rights to build residential housing, the sources said.
Merrell Schexnydre, the chairman and CEO of Brooklyn Health Partners, won the bidding for the project with a $250 million bid selected by the State University of New York board of trustees.

Schexnydre did not respond to several requests for comment. Miller, through a spokesperson, declined to comment.

The Borough Park entity that made the investment was Atlantic Partners Lofts LLC. The terms of the deal were not available. The current zoning provides about 1 million square feet of development rights, but the purchasing group plans to file an application to rezone the area that could give the site as much as 2 million square feet of residential development rights, sources close to the deal said.

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Adam Pincus
April 24, 2014
http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/04/...oject-sources/

[chris08876]

1770 Madison Avenue

Permits for 1770 Madison Avenue indicate the building will span 36,675 square feet, with space split between a variety of uses. The first two floors will have 5,124 square feet of retail space, and 6,310 square feet dedicated to a ‘community facility,’ which will apparently be used as a medical office. The remainder of the project will be divided amongst 32 apartments.

Current Site:

Completion of 1770 Madison Avenue is expected in the summer of 2015.

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http://www.yimbynews.com/2014/04/rev...avenue.html/1#

[chris08876]

Essex Crossing Developers File Pre-Demolition Documents For Former Fire Station at 185 Broome St.

In a filing recorded on Friday, BFC Partners (one of four Essex Crossing developers), started the process to tear down 185 Broome St., the old fire house on the north end of site #5. The area where the building now sits will become a 15,000 square foot park. In recent years, the structure served as home to Angel Aerial, a movie prop business.

In addition to the park, site #5 will include a mixed-use building consisting of apartments, a dual-generation school run by the Educational Alliance and a still-to-be-named grocery store. A section of the lot is also being set aside for a possible public school.

Two other sites are included in the first phase of construction, scheduled to begin one year from now. Among them, site #2 (on the southeast corner of Essex and Delancey streets), where a new Essex Street Market is going o be built. Presumably, we’ll be seeing pre-demolition documents sometime soon for the old Essex Market structure, which is not currently used by vendors but is sometimes rented out for special events.

Essex Crossing, covering nine sites of the former Seward Park Urban Renewal Area, will include 1000 apartments, commercial spaces and community facilities encompassing nearly 2 million square feet.

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http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/20...broome-st.html

[chris08876]

Mount Manresa redevelopment

The Savo Brothers development firm has been hit with a temporary restraining order from a Manhattan Supreme Court justice, halting work at Jesuit retreat Mount Manresa on Staten Island.
Justice Peter Moulton’s ruling will allow the court to hear arguments from the Committee to Save Mount Manresa, local leaders and other opponents. Also, an environmental review – expected to cover the sewer problems and suspected air pollution — needs to occur before the project begins. The developers plan to construct condominium town homes holding 250 residential units on the 15.4-acre site.

“This gives the Department of Buildings a chance to look at all the environmental issues,” Daniel Marotta, legal counsel to the Committee to Save Mount Manresa, told the Staten Island Advance.

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http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/04/...redevelopment/

[chris08876]

Six-Story Residential Project Going Up in Bed-Stuy

In Bed-Stuy, Brownstoner recently spotted schematics for a new six-story building set to go up at 244 Franklin Avenue. The developer is Israel-based Urban View, with designs from Olabanji B. Awosika. The development will have 12 units and 9,750 square feet of space, though construction has stalled due to a partial stop work order.

Though the schematics are pretty skimpy, the building looks like it will be really interesting, with a design clearly influenced by visual luminary Boaz Gilad.

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April 26, 2014
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/0...in_bedstuy.php

[Hypothalamus]

The Real Deal:

Slate, Adam America to develop $100M Park Slope rental
Partners bet big on family-friendly area with 535 Fourth Ave. ground lease deal

April 28, 2014 03:20PM
By Hiten Samtani


From left: David Schwartz, 535 Fourth Avenue, Martin Nussbaum and Dvir Cohen Hoshen

Adam America Real Estate Group, Slate Property Group and AEW Capital Management executed the long-term ground lease at a Park Slope development site on Fourth Avenue, The Real Deal has learned. The trio will develop a $100 million mixed-use residential and retail property with 141 rental apartments at the site, which allows for more than 118,000 buildable square feet and has 200 feet of retail frontage.

The partners paid close to the asking price of $10 per buildable square foot, or about $1.18 million in annual rent, for the site, located at 535 Fourth Avenue between 14th and 15th streets. A CPEX Real Estate team led by Sean Kelly and Matt Dzbanek brokered the transaction. A source familiar with the deal said the 99-year lease’s net present value was about $25 million.

“It’s a rare situation that you’re in between two amazing neighborhoods [Park Slope and Gowanus] with the subway right there,” said Slate principal David Schwartz. Aufgang Architects is designing the project, which will contain units ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments with rents likely starting at around $2,000 per month, Schwartz said.

He also noted the avenue’s retail potential, saying that any retailers eyeing a large footprint in the area would look to set up shop there.

[...]

[chris08876]

Construction Updates on projects posted earlier: 10 Bond (See first page), and the Karim Rashid Building (See first page).
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Karim Rashid Building Breaks Ground; 10 Bond in Contract

KARIM RASHID BUILDING UPDATE:

EAST HARLEM—HAP Investments announced today the absolutely bonkers Karim Rashid-designed building at 329 Pleasant Avenue, which they have named HAP 5, has broken ground. "HAP 5 is destined to be a unique residential building and a great addition to this East Harlem neighborhood. We look forward to progress on construction and are excited to again partner with Karim Rashid on creating another premier New York City property," said Eran Polack, the company's CEO.

10 BOND UPDATE:

NOHO—It probably flew under the radar this morning in a story mostly about a neighboring site, but after units in the Annabelle Selldorf-designed 10 Bond Street hit the market at the beginning of this month, three of the 11 total apartments have already entered contract, according to Streeteasy. A $7.75 million 3BR, $7.35 million 3BR, and $5.1 million 2BR are all in contract, while three other listed units, ranging in price from $4.55 million to $6.9 million, are still available. The other four have yet to be listed. Construction on the building is up to the second story.

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Both Sources: http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/0...n_contract.php

[chris08876]

South Bronx Lot Asks $3M

A tiny 4,100 square foot lot in the Lower Concourse Rezoning District of the Bronx is currently listed for a whopping $3,000,000. The property at 100 East 149th Street at Exterior Street is located just across from the the Special Harlem River Waterfront District and at the foot of the 145th Street Bridge into Manhattan. With a zoning of M1-4/R8A, the site can be developed into a 10-12 story residential building.

Immediately adjacent to the property is 110 East 149th Street which was listed by Pinnacle Realty but according to their offices, it is no longer available and slated for development into affordable housing. The square foot potential of that site is anywhere from 52,000 to 300,000 square feet.

500 Exterior Street



Meanwhile, on the south end of the same block is 500 Exterior Street where an 11 story hotel is to be constructed according to permits filed with DOB posted at the site. Per the project manager of Michael Kang Architects who is spearheading that project, no franchise has been selected for the hotel at this time.

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http://www.welcome2thebronx.com/word...for-3-million/

[chris08876]

Long-stalled “rat castle” at 179 Ludlow resumes work


Project to hold ground-floor retail, six stories of floor-through apartments

Work has finally resumed at the long-stalled 179 Ludlow, which has sat half-finished since 2006.
Fresh work on the building’s balconies are the first hint that the site is moving forward, as Bowery Boogie reported. Department of Buildings permits posted on the site show that the property will ultimately have 1,650-square-feet of commercial space on the ground floor, along with six upper stories of floor-through apartments. Kleinmann Group is listed as the architect of record.

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April 29, 2014
http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/04/...-resumes-work/

[chris08876]

Note: Updated info on post #183

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204-206 Forsyth Street :

Lower East Side luxury project to rise in place of Jesuit school

Demolition work has begun at the Nativity Mission School, a Lower East Side Jesuit middle school for boys, which will be replaced by a seven-story luxury residential building.

Developer Charles Saulson, who in 2012 bought 204 Forsyth Street for $4.5 million and 206 Forsyth Street for $1.7 million, plans to build a glassy 80-foot, 11-unit structure on the adjoining sites. Z Architecture is designing the project, according to Bowery Boogie. It’s unclear if it will be condominium or a rental.

The city issued permits in October for dismantling the school by “mechanical means.” The mostly tuition-free school for disadvantaged youth was located at 204 Forsyth, while its recreation area was at 206 Forsyth.

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http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/01/...t-school-demo/

[chris08876]

Passive House Knickerbocker Commons

The city's second multi-family passive house dwelling will soon come to market. The six-story Bushwick building at 803 Knickerbocker Avenue will have 24 apartments open to disabled and low-income renters. Six of Knickerbocker Commons' apartments will be handicap accessible and eight units will be for people with incomes lower than 30 percent of the city's median income, NYDN reports. Through sustainable measure like the building's insulating and shading foam and stucco facade, a high-functioning ventilation system that retains warmth, and by harvesting solar energy, as noted by Bedford + Bowery, the building will use just 10 percent of the energy normally consumed by a building its size. Not only will energy bills in the building be low, so too will monthly rents: apartments will be priced between $600 and $1,100.

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May 1, 2014
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/0...t_from_600.php

[Hypothalamus]

Up-zoning is one of my most favorite things There's sooo many corners on Broadway that could be redeveloped.

NY Daily News:

Proposal could clear way for tall buildings in northeast Brooklyn
Borough President Eric Adams says the Broadway corridor is ripe for development as Mayor de Blasio prepares to roll out housing plan.

BY DOYLE MURPHY
Thursday, May 1, 2014, 7:45 PM

A 4-mile stretch of Broadway could open to developers looking to build tall in exchange for adding affordable housing under a new proposal, the Daily News has learned.

Borough President Eric Adams filed a recommendation last Friday with the City Planning Commission that, if approved, would allow developers to build up to 10 stories along a stretch that includes Bushwick, Williamsburg and Bed-Stuy.

“This is going to be prime real estate,” Adams said. “We can’t create new land, but we do have lots of air rights.”

Spurred by Mayor de Blasio’s forthcoming plan to increase the number of affordable apartments across the city by 200,000, Adams and his staff plan to target neighborhoods that could handle denser populations.

The targeted area would include the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and Broadway Junction, cutting along Bushwick, Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Ocean Hill.

Adam’s recommendation was tucked into his response to the proposed Henry Apartments, a six-story, mixed-use housing project in Ocean Hill currently under review. The project is scheduled for public hearings on May 7 before the City Planning Commission, which will vote on the issue later.

Adams, who grew up on Gates Ave. near Broadway, envisions complexes designated for a mixture of incomes — 50 percent market rate, 30 middle and 20 low-income — populating neighborhoods scarred by blackouts and riots in the 1970s.

[...]

Adams plans to meet with elected officials, such as Espinal, after the mayor reveals his housing plans.

Adams said he expected some pushback but suspects that most residents will agree on the need for affordable housing.

“I think we’re going to come together and say ‘build, baby, build,” Adams said.

[chris08876]

Mega-developer acts small in Brooklyn

JDS Development Group is intent on placing its bets on both sides of the East River. Best known for its properties in Manhattan, including its recently completed Walker Tower in Chelsea, where a penthouse sold for just north of $50 million, the company recently—and a bit more quietly—closed on the purchase of a $6 million assemblage of properties on the corner of Baltic Street and Fourth Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn. There it aims to build a 65,000 square foot residential and retail building. Meanwhile JDS is eyeing a series of development sites elsewhere in the borough.

True, the size of the developer's latest project in Brooklyn pales in comparison to its super-slender, 1,350-feet-tall tower under construction at 111 W. 57th St. in Manhattan, but according to Michael Stern, JDS's managing partner, it is part of a longer strategy for development outside of Manhattan.

"We like to have a diversity in our portfolio," Mr. Stern said, noting that his firm has already been involved in several smaller-scale Brooklyn developments. Among those is a rental property JDS Development built and sold across the street from its latest development site. He also noted that he has several more projects both large and small in the pipeline in the borough. Part of the push in Kings County comes as a result of the continuing skyrocketing of land prices in Manhattan.

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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...ll-in-brooklyn

[chris08876]

De Blasio talks about affordable housing, and some of his goals/agenda:

Length: 12 minutes

BloombergTV

Video: http://www.bloomberg.com/video/mayor...I3ysuqkxQ.html

May 1 (Bloomberg) -- On “Charlie Rose,” a conversation with Bill de Blasio. He is the 109th and current Mayor of New York City. He has served in that role since January 1st, 2014. (Source: Bloomberg)

[chris08876]

New renderings released at 738 Grand Street in Williamsburg

New renderings have been released for the S3 Architecture-designed 738 Grand Street in Williamsburg.
The 10-unit, mixed-use project, located between Humboldt Street and Graham Avenue, will feature one- and two-bedroom condominiums, according to Buzzbuzzhome. The two upper floors will be duplex apartments with double-height spaces.

The building’s industrial design will employ brick, painted steel beams, steel and glass windows and metal siding.

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Christopher Cameron
http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/03/...-williamsburg/