I really hope that this eyesore comes down.
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That’s a different parcel on the east corner of 57th. That’s a market rate rental building, so it can be emptied easily. Something iconic will rise there because the owner also owns very large empty lots next to it.
I suspect that the myriad retail leases are holding up development. There’s Rue 57, Starbucks, and Davidoff. This is an enormous site.
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Thank you 
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Hopefully something really tall goes here (1,500 ft +) but I wish that for every site lol
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I think a supertall could be built on these two setts.
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Definitely.
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Most of the claims were recently dismissed. I’m curious what will transpire here.
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They knew what they were getting into when they bought these apartments.
Stache—. I think it’s more complicated than that. First some of these ground leases go back a very long time. Descendants of older apartment buyers had no choice to make. Second, your comment assumes that buyers are careful. While you can criticize some for careless perusal of documents when they buy, the documents are typically long and complicated. Third, some owners may have purchased quite some time ago. While they may have known about the ground lease, a look far into the future is not always easy. Fourth, no one can really anticipate inflation rates. Is it fair to assume that people who purchased their apartments thirty years ago should have to deal with huge increases in NYC land values. At some point, relief seems appropriate.
There was a very similar situation in Hawaii quite sometime ago. When the native Hawaiians ceded land in the late nineteenth century it was often done under 99 year leases. When they began to expire in places like Honolulu which were not really around when the leases began, the state legislature stepped in. They established a system allowing the government to condemn the ground leases and sell them to homeowners under very favorable long term mortgages with very low interest rates to reduce the burden. SCOTUS approved the program. That sort of plan together with some controls on prices could be done here too with state help.
In short this is an interesting problem that is not easy to resolve.
Those who are politically connected will always get a bailout.
It’s the American way.
Hawaii case involved folks at all income levels. It was not a case about the rich and famous. And the NYC. issue also is not just about the wealthy. Lots of coops are occupied by fairly typical folks. It may just turn out that votes matter as much as money in some settings.