This thread is designated for miscellaneous low-rise projects of any stage in development. At YIMBY, low-rises are considered buildings of less then 10 stories (100 feet). Projects of 10 or more stories (100+ feet) are deserving of their own thread in the appropriate category. Significant projects of less than 10 stories (100 feet) are eligible to an individual thread. New York’s general development news can also be tracked here.
BY: STEPHEN SMITH ON JULY 10TH 2014 AT 6:00 AM
32-04 38th Avenue pre-construction, image from Google Maps
In 2008, the Dutch Kills neighborhood — situated between Astoria and Long Island City — was rezoned for residential use. The change was hardly generous, only allowing four-story buildings, but there were pockets of higher-intensity uses permitted, and at least one developer seems to have found such a site, just north of Sunnyside Yard.
32-04 38th Avenue, image by ND Architecture & Design
At 32-04 38th Avenue, Arun Agarwal intends to build a six-story, 20-unit condominium building. The rendering depicts a handsome Bauhaus-inspired mid-rise with red accents, designed by ND Architecture & Design. The structure’s early modernist influences are undeniable, down to the porthole window on the ground level (ocean liner motifs were a staple of Streamline Moderne and related styles), and well executed.
The only unfortunate part is that the ground level appears mostly blank, likely due to the need to accommodate the 10-car garage – something that can’t be blamed on the architect or developer, since that’s exactly the number of spaces required by the city’s costly and ahistorical minimum parking requirements.
With the site located just a few blocks from two subway stations (the N/Q at 39th Avenue, and the M/R at 36th Street), each of which offers a less than 10 minute ride into Midtown Manhattan, the parking minimums are woefully out of step with the city’s goals of encouraging mass transit use, and the developer is projecting at least as much demand for biking as auto use (the project will also include parking for the same number of bikes, which are not required by code).
In contrast to the huge condos planned for ultra-luxury projects in Manhattan, 32-03 38th Avenue’s 20 units will be relatively small, packed into just 13,823 square feet of space, according to a building permit filed last year. The building will also include nearly 2,500 square feet of commercial space, for a total scope of 25,200 square feet once all common areas, mechanicals and parking are accounted for.
Demolition permits for the existing structure were filed in March, and construction of 32-04 38th Avenue is likely imminent.
BY: NIKOLAI FEDAK ON JULY 24TH 2014 AT 6:30 AM
God’s Love Redevelopment, rendering from Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel
Since construction began last year, work has been constant at 166 Avenue of the Americas, where God’s Love We Deliver is rebuilding and expanding their headquarters. The sale and development of the future One Vandam helped fund the project, located at 166 Avenue of the Americas, which is being designed by Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel.
God’s Love Redevelopment and One Vandam at rear
The God’s Love expansion won’t be nearly as appealing as One Vandam, though given the organization’s status and mission, a starchitect-quality structure would have been unlikely. Nevertheless, GK + V’s design conforms to the street-wall, and while the facade of 166 Avenue of the Americas may be slightly utilitarian, its impact on surrounding blocks and the city as a whole will be positive.
Permits reveal that the official classification for the new God’s Love building is a vertical and horizontal enlargement, with the original 13,166 square-foot structure set to fill 39,658 square feet once the addition is complete. 166 Avenue of the Americas’ height will increase from two to six floors, or from 24 to 104 feet.
God’s Love Redevelopment
As the sole rendering of the project makes clear, the God’s Love expansion will remain in scale with the neighborhood, deferring to its taller neighbor to the north. Given the structure will improve the capabilities of its namesake non-profit developer, its construction should be applauded, especially after NIMBYs attempted to derail the expansion during the approval process.
Completion of 166 Avenue of the Americas is expected next year.
Lots of things going on here!
By Steve Cuozzo | August 11, 2014 | 5:11am
JPMorgan Chase has held talks with major developers about moving its headquarters from Park Avenue to the World Trade Center or the Far West Side — at the same time it is planning to move a “significant” number of employees out of town.
As part of an overall real estate reshuffle, the financial giant plans to move an unspecified number of its New York City employees to New Jersey and Delaware, insiders said, although headquarters and trading operations would remain in Manhattan.
No decision has yet been made to move from 270 Park Ave., the bank’s longtime home, and sources termed talks with developers “exploratory.” JPMorgan Chase declined to make an official comment.
But sources confirmed on condition of anonymity that the global giant is in the midst of a “comprehensive” review of its real estate strategy.
In recent months, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has “kicked the tires” at Related Cos.’ 50 Hudson Yards, a proposed 1,110-foot-tall, 2.3-million-square-foot skyscraper at 504-522 W. 34th St. The land is now owned by Coach Inc., but Related is to buy it for $130 million once Coach moves to its new home at Related’s 10 Hudson Yards three blocks south.
The bank has also talked with Brookfield Properties about its Manhattan West project, and with Vornado Realty Trust about its Hotel Pennsylvania development site. (Vornado chief Steven Roth hinted last week he might have a tenant to get the project started.)
It’s also talked to WTC developers Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority and Durst Organization about anchoring the proposed 2 WTC, or taking space in near-finished 1 and 4 WTC or in under-construction 3 WTC.
Whether or not JPMorgan Chase moves to a new building, Dimon is looking to further prune his Manhattan real estate portfolio following the sale of One Chase Plaza to a Chinese company last year.
[…]
The Related site, for example, called 50 Hudson Yards, is a parcel west of 10th Avenue including the current home of Coach Inc. at 516 W. 34th St., which can be razed by Related and its partner Oxford Properties once Coach moves to its new tower.
Related has a “50 Hudson Yards” in planning stages for theoretical completion in 2019, but it would not be built without a tenant.
Reps for Related, Brookfield and Vornado didn’t get back to us. A rep for the city’s Economic Development Corp. had no comment.
BY: STEPHEN SMITH ON AUGUST 13TH 2014 AT 6:00 AM
280 East 161st Street infill, rendering by Issac & Stern
While the New York City Housing Authority’s grand “Land Lease” infill plan, proposed in the waning months of the Bloomberg administration, was highly controversial, other affordable housing projects have been wedged in between the voids of towers-in-a-park-style developments without much acrimony.
According to renderings obtained by YIMBY, one of those may be coming to 280 East 161st Street, in the South Bronx. The current building, called the Morrisania II Apartments and erected in 1980, appears to be a 204-unit Section 8 rental owned by a South Williamsburg-based landlord.
Renderings show a new, three-pronged structure rising from behind the current U-shaped building. The new apartments would rise 12 stories overtop a garage, with 240 units, and a total floor space of around a quarter of a million square feet. (The lot’s liberal R8 zoning combined with the relatively sparse existing development, however, means that it could theoretically accommodate much more.)
280 East 161st Street infill, rendering by Issac & Stern
The project appears to be a long way off, however, with a spokesman for the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development telling YIMBY: “We have received a proposal and we’re in the early stages of assessing it, and have had an initial conversation with the developer. No financing has been approved and we haven’t made a decision on whether or not to move forward at this time.”
Issac & Stern would be the architect, while the exact identity of the property owner and would-be developer is unclear.
594 Dean Street, across the street from Pacific Park (née Atlantic Yards), is becoming a post office.
Via: http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2014/08/boerum-hill-post-office-will-move-to-prospect-heights/
(I wouldn’t have bothered sharing this with you except that I took some photos and it’s across from Pacific Park.)
Work in Progress board photo from June 5th, 2014:
Construction photo from August 10th, 2014:
-Colin Miller
Thanks for sharing, Colin! Anything/everything is welcomed! This should be an upgrade for the area, for sure, although too bad they aren’t incorporating res. units above the facilities on the first two floors. This property warrants higher density!
BY: STEPHEN SMITH ON AUGUST 18TH 2014 AT 6:30 AM
954 Bergen Avenue
Work appears to be wrapping up on a new condominium project at 954 Bergen Street, where the façade is mostly in place; the building was designed by Issac & Stern, and Boaz Gilad is developing.
954 Bergen Avenue
The reality hasn’t turned out much like the rendering, but not necessarily in a bad way; the brick is much lighter than depicted, and lacks the multi-color texture of the drawing. While the design is nothing groundbreaking, the lack of PTAC units will make the development more attractive than the rentals that have been the mainstay of new construction in the area.
The façade of 954 Bergen Street is also a hint as to how another Gilad-and-Issac collaboration will turn out. In Prospect Heights, the rendering of 531 Vanderbilt Avenue is almost identical to the Bergen Street project, and YIMBY’s slip behind the construction netting revealed the same style of light beige brick. Both projects feature a glass-and-spandrel left side which is designed as if its protruding out from behind a slightly shorter, more traditional brick design on the right.
By the looks of progress, the condos will likely go on the market later this year. The building permit, filed last year, indicates a 36-unit structure spread over 23,980 square feet of net residential space – for an average unit size of 666 square feet, suggesting one- and/or two-bedroom apartments – along with a 19-space parking garage (which is only one more spot than required by code).
BY: STEPHEN SMITH ON AUGUST 25TH 2014 AT 6:30 AM
One Fulton Square
Construction is wrapping up at One Fulton Square, a major development project in downtown Flushing. The F&T Group, one of the neighborhood’s most prolific builders, is in the final stages of bringing a two-building mixed-use complex to the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and Prince Street, just a block from the 7-train terminus on Main Street.
One Fulton Square is made up of twin 12-story towers, with a public plaza in between. The developer writes that the site consists of “a 168-key Hyatt Place hotel built atop of a three-level glass retail podium,” plus “a separate office condominium containing 22 professional and medical offices, 43 luxuriously furnished residential condominiums and 300 parking spaces.” Margulies Hoelzli Architecture is responsible for the design of both buildings.
Construction on the retail/office/condo building looks nearly completed, while on the 39th Avenue side of the complex, the first Hyatt in Queens opened at the end of May. The rooms run around $300 to $400 a night.
Hyatt Place, at One Fulton Square
For the moment, the hotel is on the edge of the bustling part of downtown Flushing. But it shouldn’t be long before foot traffic picks up. More than 100 acres of land on the northern and western edge of downtown Flushing were rezoned in 1998 to accommodate more growth, mostly from low-density manufacturing designations to the fairly permissive C4-2 zone. Developers are now in the process of filling the old industrial lands in with mid-rise commercial and residential buildings, as Queens’s Asian population grows along with its demand for shopping, housing, hotel and office space.
Project: Staten Island Health Wellness Campus
The city is considering a plan to transform a nearly 100-acre former tuberculosis treatment center on Staten Island with dozens of landmarked buildings into a multipurpose health campus.
The proposal, called the Staten Island Health & Wellness Campus, was penned by Staten Island Borough President James Oddo and recently submitted to the city’s Economic Development Corp. and the Health and Hospitals Corp., both of which are funding a feasibility study.
Under the plan, many of the aging, long-vacant structures on the turn-of-the-century Seaview Hospital grounds—once used as the city’s principal tuberculosis treatment center—would get a makeover, and several new ones would be built. Meanwhile, a nursing home that occupies several buildings will remain.
The plan would establish a number of institutions on the leafy grounds of the campus. They include a children’s hospital, community centers for Alzheimer patients and seniors, and facilities for adults with disabilities and special-needs children.
10-27 47th Road in Long Island City
37-27 31st Street in Long Island City. 7 floors/70 feet tall/74 apartments.
The site has been cleared. It is right next to the N/W tracks.
38-11 31st Street in Long Island City. 7 floors/70 feet tall/42 apartments.
31-19 37th Avenue in Long Island City. 5 floors/50 feet tall/10 apartments.
For some reason, rendering shows a 6-story building.
https://s28.postimg.org/bi7ju8719/IMG_00001948.jpg
Construction has commenced:
37-14 34th Street in Long Island City. 7 floors/70 feet/80 apartments.
32-04 38th Avenue in Long Island City. 6 floors/75 feet/19 apartments.
37-21 32nd Street in Long Island City. 7 floors/69 feet/88 apartments.
This stretches through-block between 32nd and 33rd streets.
32nd Street side:
https://s2.postimg.org/lwajppqwp/IMG_00001951.jpg
33rd Street side:
33-01 38th Avenue in Long Island City. 6 floors/65 feet/94 apartments.
https://s21.postimg.org/d51wh3mon/IMG_00001957.jpg
https://s21.postimg.org/50tscd09j/IMG_00001959.jpg
31-12 38th Avenue. 7 floors/80 feet/19 apartments.
https://s11.postimg.org/vgf1q7z77/IMG_00001953.jpg
