Permits Filed: 644 East 14th Street
BY: NIKOLAI FEDAK ON APRIL 29TH 2014 AT 6:30 AM
644 East 14th Street – image via Google Maps
The first DOB filings are up for a new development at 644 East 14th Street, which will be thoroughly mixed-use; the site’s developer is Simon Dushinsky of The Rabsky Group, and the project’s architect of record is Karl Fischer. The New York Observer reported on the lot’s availability last June, when it was marketed by Avison Young; ACRIS reveals the property traded hands in February.
Permits indicate that 644 East 14th Street will total 61,789 square feet, including 8,578 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. The remainder of the first five stories will host a ‘community facility,’ which will span 18,937 square feet, and apartments will sit above; the structure will stand 15 stories tall, with 34,274 square feet of residential space divided between 50 units. At only 120 feet to its roof, ceilings heights will apparently be crypt-like.
Previous filings for a commercial building are evidently moribund, as that project was to stand eleven stories tall, with a similar total square footage. The shift to mixed-use will likely be more beneficial to the neighborhood, which is peripheral at best; 644 East 14th Street borders Avenue C, adjacent to the power plant that exploded during Hurricane Sandy, which resulted in the loss of power across Lower Manhattan.
644 East 14th Street highlighted at center, flood map by The New York Times
Given the site’s elevation, plans for the future 644 East 14th Street must account for the potential of major flooding; The New York Times flood map indicates that the lot was submerged under 3 to 6 feet of water.
No completion date for the development has been announced.