NEW YORK | 306 West 40th Street | 283 FT | 30 FLOORS

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Permits Filed: Yet Another Budget Hotel Coming to 306 West 40th Street

BY: NIKOLAI FEDAK

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Just across the street from the Port Authority Bus Terminal sits the best example of Midtown’s ongoing architectural crisis, caused by the proliferation of budget hotels allowed by outdated zoning. The most infamous of these are conjoined triplets spanning the western end of the block, and another two hotels are under construction at 310 West 40th Street and 350 West 40th Street.

And now, applications have been filed for yet another, at 306 West 40th Street. There, developer Jimmy Shao will be building a 30-story hotel measuring 44,234 square feet, with Angelo an Anthony Ng of Architects Studio NY listed as the architects of record.

The structure will stand 283 feet tall, with ceilings averaging under 10 feet per floor, totaling 118 rooms. While the FAR of 17.9 is substantial, the lot is only 25 feet wide.

As projects like 306 West 40th Street continue to sprout in a weed-like manner across the Garment District and Chelsea, the impetus for rethinking the zoning of both neighborhoods has fortunately begun to gain momentum. Earlier this month, Capital New York reported that a solution may be in the works, though specifics have not yet been revealed.

While West 40th Street east of Ninth Avenue may now be a lost cause, that is not the case for blocks to the south and east, where residential uses could and should be accommodated.

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An abomination which will not only add to urban blight but also to nest of low wage if not illegal workers employed by these alleged hotels

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This section of Midtown is tacky nation. The real New York is below Houston Street. 40-42nd Street is not New York nor is it a representation of the architectural superiority that is NYC. These budget hotels are literally on a budget. Good thing most of them tend to be on the side streets with the other garbage.

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This whole block will soon be overcome – insanity.

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https://www.newyorkyimby.com/2017/06/demolition-pending-at-306-308-west-40th-street-site-of-proposed-high-rise-hotel-garment-district.html

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Continuing the discussion from NEW YORK | Hudson District - Clinton & Garment Districts:

Permits Filed: 308 West 40th Street, 13-Story Hotel

BY: STEPHEN SMITH ON SEPTEMBER 23RD 2014 AT 2:00 PM


308 West 40th Street, image from Google Street View

Amidst the Great Dummy Permit Filing Frenzy of September 2014 comes a somewhat mysterious application for a new building in the Garment District, on a stretch of West 40th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues, right across from the southern face of the Port Authority Bus Terminal, that’s seen intense hotel development in recent years.

The 25-foot lot at 308 West 40th Street was at one point slated to get a 14-story Gene Kaufman-designed hotel, developed by Sam Chang’s McSam Group, per a permit filing back in 2008. Those plans apparently fell through though, and the land was sold in late 2012 for $1.3 million.

Plans filed today now call for a 13-story commercial structure with nearly 27,000 square feet of total construction floor space. Gene Kaufman has been swapped out for Nobutaka Ashihara, a New York-based architect who’s designed a number of hotels in Manhattan, from Midtown to the Financial District, and generally produces higher quality designs than Kaufman.

The permit indicates merely a commercial structure, without going into detail about whether it will be hotel, retail or office space. A single dwelling unit, as listed on the permit, is usually not consistent with a hotel, but we’re guessing it’s merely a dummy filing, likely submitted now so that the architect can design the building in accordance with the 2008 version of the city’s building code, and the application will be amended at a later date to include the true number of rooms. Retail seems unlikely given the height, and office rents in the Garment District are not generally high enough for office developers to outbid hotel builders for land.

The developer is Mehta & Company, a private investment firm led by Ankit Mehta, who has not returned YIMBY’s request for comment.