Search Results for: rezone

January 6, 2016

First Look at Madigan Development’s Upcoming Hudson Square Tower at 111 Varick Street

At the edge of the Holland Tunnel's Jersey-bound vortex, Madigan Development is planning to build a 15-story, 49-unit residential building at 111 Varick Street. Anchoring the southwest corner of Broome and Varick Streets in West Soho (aka Hudson Square), the tower is replacing a multi-story parking garage and will sit adjacent to another planned 19-story residential tower at 568 Broome Street. Renderings of 111 Varick show a blocky building clad in a drunken checkerboard pattern of glass and stone. While it has yet to be confirmed if the building will be a condo or rental, large layouts and its prime location between Soho and Tribeca allude to condos.
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December 2, 2015

Living Near a Subway May Be Good for Your Mental Health; The Majority of NY Airbnbs Are Probably Illegal

According to a new study, it is likely that more than half of Airbnb’s NYC rentals violate short-term leasing laws. [NYP] Here are the best NYC neighborhoods for freshly graduated young professionals. [BI] A new study suggests that living close to public transportation “could contribute to reduced risk of depression.” [CityLab] Digesting Mayor de Blasio’s plan […]

September 11, 2015

Times Square Characters and Performers May Get Confined to Designated ‘Activity Areas’

It looks like Mayor de Blasio's wish of coralling the costumed characters and topless performers in Times Square may be coming true. The Daily News reports that the Times Square Alliance has endorsed the "Times Square Commons" plan, which Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Councilmen Daniel Garodnick and Corey Johnson publicized in an op-ed in the paper yesterday. The proposal would rezone Times Square's pedestrian plaza so that instead of being mapped as a street it would become a special district called Times Square Commons. This area would be divided into three zones: general civic zones, which would feature tables and chairs and arts events; pedestrian traffic flow zones, areas to walk with no physical obstructions; and the aforementioned designated activity zones, small slivers of space that "would allow any activity involving the immediate exchange of money for goods, services or entertainment."
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August 11, 2015

The Bronx Is Getting a New Mixed-Use High-Rise Near Yankee Stadium

Brooklyn and Queens have been flush with new condos and rental developments lately, now it's time for the Bronx to get in on the action. Local developer M. Melnick & Co. has begun construction of a mixed-income, 17-story residential and commercial high rise at 810 River Avenue that will be the area's first since it was rezoned in 2009. The company dates back to 1934 and has proven to be reliable builders of multi-family, senior, supportive and mixed-use housing developments around the city.
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August 11, 2015

First Look at 23-Story Condominium Replacing Greenwich Village’s Bowlmor Lanes

Here's our first peek at the 23-story condominium tower replacing the former home of Greenwich Village's iconic Bowlmor Lanes at 110 University Place. Documents filed with the Department of Buildings depict a modest 280-foot-high tower rising from a block-long, one-story retail podium. Situated on a charming stretch of University Place lined with an assorted mix of low and mid-rises, the existing four-story, 75,000-square-foot building housed a parking garage in addition to the famed bowling alley. In 2012, Billy Macklowe, founder and CEO of William Macklowe Company and son of 432 Park Avenue developer Harry Macklowe, purchased a long-term controlling position in the building, which effectively made Macklowe the building's landlord for the next 72 years.
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August 6, 2015

First Look at 22-Story Expansion of Downtown Brooklyn’s Hampton Inn Hotel

We all know Brooklyn's residential market is scorching hot, but its hotel market is booming as well. Two hotels recently opened at the borough's Manhattan Bridge entryway, the 174-room Dazzler Brooklyn Hotel and the 116-room Hampton Inn. The latter has just begun construction on a 145-room expansion on an adjacent lot at 156 Tillary Street, and we've uncovered the first look at what the 22-story Stonehill & Taylor Architects-designed tower will look like (an encore to the striped-brick banality that rose in the first phase).
More details ahead
March 27, 2015

REVEALED: ODA Architects Design Cantilevering Ziggurats for Gowanus Site

Another eye- and volume-popping mega-project by ODA Architects may be coming to Brooklyn, and this week's chosen neighborhood is Gowanus. A recently posted video by ODA delves into the thought process of Eran Chen's burgeoning firm and provides some shots of their recent work, including the provocative rendering shown here. We recognized the location only by the "Stop & Frisk Hands Off the Kids" text scrawled across the defunct Brooklyn Rapid Transit Powerhouse building (the "Bat Cave") and pinpointed the project for the full-block parcel at 175-225 Third Street purchased by Kushner Companies and LIVWRK last year. Update via LIVWRK/Kushner’s reps: "The developers are not working with ODA on this project and these designs do not represent our vision for this site or the Gowanus. We are committed to putting forth an outstanding plan that respects the context of the neighborhood and responds to the voices of local stakeholders.” As it turns out, ODA is one of many firms that pitched, and the design was ultimately turned down because it was out of touch with the direction of the neighborhood. Though it won't come to fruition, it does give some scale of what's to come—which will indeed be transformative for the area.
More information here
February 24, 2015

Citigroup Will Sell Site to Feed Long Island City’s Growing Skyline

Long Island City's most recognizable tenant is about to sell a prime piece of property in the heart of the neighborhood. According to the New York Times, the financial giant is putting up a one-acre development site, bound by 44th Road, 23rd Street and 44th Drive in Court Square, and it could fetch up to $150 million. Court Square's proximity to Manhattan and plentiful transit has made the enclave one of Queens' most sought-after areas for residential development. Mayor de Blasio is all for the sale and has plans of his own to rezone LIC to spur even more construction.
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February 5, 2015

Renderings Revealed for Sustainable Hudson Square Park by Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects

Back in June, the Hudson Square Connection (a neighborhood BID) announced their plans to turn Soho Square, the half-acre open space at the intersection of Spring Street and Sixth Avenue in Hudson Square, into a public park. Since then, the Business Improvement District, in partnership with the city and neighborhood stakeholders, has been seeking input from the community to inform the $6 million renovation. Just last night, the design by Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects was presented to the Community Board 2 Parks Committee, and it features sustainable, green infrastructure, storm water management, and more.
Check out the renderings here
February 3, 2015

HIGHLIGHTS: De Blasio Announces Plans for More Affordable Housing and a New City-Wide Ferry Service

Mayor Bill de Blasio just wrapped up his State of the City address, and in addition to focusing in like a laser beam on affordable housing, the mayor also unveiled a number of additional improvements that certainly had us sitting up straight in our seats. In his address, De Blasio emphasized that his plan would look to creating denser, economically diverse affordable residential communities for not only low-income New Yorkers, but also for chronically homeless vets, seniors and artists. “While the state of our city is strong, we face a profound challenge,” de Blasio said during his speech. "If we fail to be a city for everyone, we risk losing what makes New York, New York…Nothing more clearly expresses the inequality gap—the opportunity gap—than the soaring cost of housing." The mayor also spoke about the administration's plan to raise minimum wage and expand public transit, which would include adding more Bus Rapid Transit lines to the outer boroughs, and, most notably, a brand new city-wide ferry system that would serve areas such as the Lower East Side, the Rockaways and Red Hook for the same cost as a subway ride. Keep reading for more highlights.
Highlights from de Blasio's speech here
November 21, 2014

Real Estate Wire: Most Expensive Townhouse Lists for $63M; High-Rise Towers Could Rise Along Gowanus Canal

Morris Adjmi will design condos to replace the Brooklyn Heights Cinema. [BK Heights Blog] New York’s most expensive townhouse officially hit the market for $63 million. [Curbed] Queens real estate is getting a lot of attention lately. [NYT] An $18 million Williamsburg warehouse sold for $434/square foot, among the highest sales ever in the borough. [Crain’s] Gowanus […]

September 17, 2014

Sunset Park: How Creativity and Commerce are Transforming This Waterfront Neighborhood

With plans in place that call for a public waterfront bustling with creative industry and commerce rather than luxury residential developments, Sunset Park is not on its way to becoming the next hip NYC residential neighborhood–and that’s a good thing. Located on Brooklyn's western waterfront flank, there are really two sides to Sunset Park. The neighborhood, generally defined as the area between 65th Street, the Prospect Expressway, Eighth Avenue and the East River, has long been a thriving residential community. Sunset Park is also home to about 15 million square feet of warehouse and light industrial space. The key to the neighborhood’s future may be the point at which the two meet.
Find Out How Fashion May Give Sunset Park a Chance to Shine As the New Garment District
June 27, 2014

NYC’s Billboards to be the Biggest in the USA: Even More Wattage Being Added to Times and Herald Squares

Billboard signs along Times Square, and now Herald Square, are growing ever bigger and brighter as LED displays become the top choice for developers of new supersigns. Projects such as the upcoming Mariott Edition, Vornado's Marriott Marquis renovation, and the revamping of the Herald Center all include LED displays that will be among the largest in the world. Though more expensive to install than the standard illuminated billboard, the light-emitting diode canvasses have the primary advantage of being eco-friendly by using less electricity and lasting 25 times longer than their incandescent alternatives. Their cost depends on size, complexity, and resolution; and may run upward of $1000 a square foot. But new technology in the past decade has cut the average price in half allowing for a brighter and more prolific future in the city.
See videos and images these eye-popping supersigns
June 18, 2014

Caveat to DeBlasio’s Grand Central Terminal Area Rezoning Would Require Special Permit for New Hotels

The impetus behind the rezoning plan allowing taller towers in the blocks surrounding Grand Central Terminal - specifically the five blocks of Vanderbilt Avenue from East 42nd Street to East 47th Street - is to keep New York competitive with office development in other major cities like London and Shanghai. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, the hotel-workers union, which had a key role in the demise of a similar proposal under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has flexed its muscles once again, seeking a concession that would require any new hotels to receive a special permit from the City Planning Commission and the City Council.
More details on the rezoning here
June 18, 2014

Jared Kushner and LIVWRK Make Plans to Buy a Gowanus Property, Possibly for Luxury Condos

Jared Kushner and LIVWRK could soon be making their way to Gowanus. According to The Real Deal, the pair are in contract to buy a 133,000-square-foot development site at 175-225 3rd Street, located right across the new 3rd and 3rd Whole Foods market and just around the corner from Lightstone Group’s 700-unit rental project at 363 Bond Street. Currently, the land has 600 feet of frontage and allows for commercial development of up to 300,000-square-feet, but sources say that one-million square feet of residential could be constructed if rezoned.
More details here
May 30, 2014

One Vanderbilt: New 65-Story Tower Near Grand Central to Stand Taller Than the Chrysler Building

It looks like the Chrysler Building is about to get a new neighbor. According to the New York Times, SL Green has reportedly proposed the development of a 1,200-foot, 65-story tower that would occupy the block between 42nd and 43rd Streets, and Vanderbilt and Madison Avenues. This proposal will have to undergo a review process as part of a new de Blasio administration plan to rezone an area of Vanderbilt Avenue for larger buildings. De Blasio’s proposal is a 2.0 version of a failed bid by Michael Bloomberg that would rezone an area around Grand Central Terminal. Bloomberg’s proposal – which would affect a 73-block area around the terminal - concerned officials and preservationists, who were concerned that the plan would add to the congestion in the area. Fulfilling one of his campaign promises, de Blasio has devised a plan to mitigate those issues as well as keep the city competitive for decades to come, by creating more office space in the prime business location.
Learn more about the iconic tower's new neighbor