25-JUL-06

Robert A. M. Stern designing new Amsterdam Avenue condo building

The Related Companies have commissioned Robert A. M. Stern Architects and Ismael Levya to design a mid-rise, residential condominium building at 350 Amsterdam Avenue.

The building would replace an attractive, five-story, red- and brown-brick garage building with numerous arched windows on the southwest corner of the avenue and 77th Street and a mid-block low-rise building just to the south.

The new building would have an Equinox store adjacent to new retail space and its residential entrance would be on 76th Street.

A rendering that appeared on the websites of two retail real estate companies, Robert K. Futterman & Associates and Winick Realty Group, indicated that the new building would be ready for occupancy in late 2008 and have four large ground floor arches along the avenue and a setback above the 8th and 9th floors and that some of the upper floors would have angled corners.

A spokesperson for Robert A. M. Stern Architects referred CityRealty.com to The Related Companies and Alicia Goldstein, a spokesperson for the latter called CityRealty.com today to say no comment.

Robert A. M. Stern is the architect of the new development now under construction at 15 Central Park West and his firm's high-rise apartment projects in Manhattan include the Chatham at 181 East 65th Street, the Seville at 300 East 77th Street, the Westminster at 180 West 20th Street and TriBeCa Park (400 Chambers Street) at Battery Park City.

25-JUL-06

New condo project for NoLIta on Prince Street

A partnership of Bob Seigel and Peter Manning have commissioned Roman & Williams to design a 8-story residential condominium project at 16 Prince Street on the southwest corner of Elizabeth Street in NoLIta.

According to Karen Bellantoni, senior vice president of Robert K. Futterman & Associates, which is marketing the project's retail spaces, ground-breaking for the development is anticipated this fall and occupancy about a year later.

Documents on file with the city indicated that the building received a permit for construction July 19, 2006 and that three mortgages were consolidated into an $11 million commitment for the project that was recorded November 14, 2005.

A call to the architectural firm of Roman & Williams was referred to Sean Turner of Stribling & Associates and CityRealty.com left Ms. Turner a message to return the call today.

A rendering of the handsome project on the Robert K. Futterman & Associates website indicated that the building would have 7 primary floors with multi-paned windows and a hanging marquee over its entrance. The building would have setbacks at the 7th and 8th floors. It is one block south of Houston Street.

25-JUL-06

Developer starts to dismantle trim at landmark PS 64 building

An article by Sarah Ferguson on the Power Plays blog of The Village Voice reported today that developer Gregg Singer has commenced dismantling of the architectural trim on the former P.S. 64 building at 605 East 9th Street that was declared an official city landmark last month.

Mr. Singer obtained an alteration permit three years ago from the city's Department of Buildings and the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission had gotten the Buildings Department is issue a stop work order on the project for several weeks while it was considering its designation as a landmark. The alteration permit expires in October.

Mr. Singer bought the building in 1998 when the former school building was being used as the Charas/El Bohio community center and he originally sought to build a 26-story dormitory on part of the property under the site's community facilities zoning. He subsequently reduced the plan to 19 stories, but has not yet found an educational institution willing to commit to the project.

The attractive red-brick building is located at 6xxx East 9th Street, just to the east of Christadora House that fronts on Tompkins Square Park. The school property extends through to 10th Street.

The Voice article today quoted Mr. Singer as declaring "It's a shame. The city forced me to do it," adding that the developer maintains he has "'no choice' but to strip the facade so he can go to court and try to overturn last month's landmarks designation."

The Voice article also quoted the developer as stating that "Either we make it a homeless and drug treatment center with government funding to do it long-term, or they let me add a few floors and turn it into condos, and I'll give the community some pace at below-market rent."

24-JUL-06

Construction has started at 200 West End Avenue

Construction has started on 200 West End Avenue, a 27-story residential condominium building on the southeast corner at 70th Street.

The building will have 191 apartments, 27,000 square feet of retail space and a 76-car garage.

The developer is Clarett Capital LLC, a joint venture between the Clarett Group and Prudential Real Estate Investors and ING/Clarion.

The site is close to Donald Trump's recently completed residential towers along Riverside Boulevard and to recently announced new projects by Extell further south.

Occupancy is anticipated for early 2008.

Costas Kondylis & Partners is the architect. It has also designed many of the nearby towers along Riverside Boulevard for Donald Trump.

Celerie Kemble is designing "amenity spaces" for this project.

The Clarett Group's projects include the 55-story Sky House condominium tower under construction at 11 West 29th Street, Place 57, which is under construction at 207 East 57th Street, Chelsea House at 130 West 19th Street, 2770 Broadway, the Montrose at 308 East 38th Street, the Post Toscana at 389 East 89th Street and the Post Luminaria at 385 First Avenue.

24-JUL-06

158 Madison Avenue development site for sale

The developers of the 50-unit condominium project known as Sundari Lofts & Tower that had been planned for 158 Madison Avenue have retained Massey Knakal Realty Services to sell the project whose site has been cleared.

Last August, Thorwood Real Estate LLC, a joint venture headed by Joseph Sitt, the president and chief executive office of Thor Equities LLC, and Andrew Heiberger, the president of Buttonwood Real Estate LLC and the former founder and president of CitiHabitats, announced the project, which is located between 32nd and 33rd Streets.

The project has a "T"-shaped plan and plans drawn up by Ismael Leyva called for a 20-story building with balconies staggered above the five floor on Madison Avenue from the south to the north at the top.

"Sundari" is a Sanskrit word for "beautiful" and the plans called for an Asian-style lobby and a garden with a waterfall. The project also was to have a fitness center with a 58-foot lap pool and apartments would have had ceilings of 9 feet to 10 feet eight inches, washers and dryers, free-standing Starck soaking tubs, Sub-Zero refrigerators, Miele dishwashers, mahogany floors, green onyx vanities, and Viking ranges and ovens.

Most apartments would have had balconies or terraces and there was to be a 24-hour concierge, keyed elevators, bicycle storage and individual storage units. Penthouse units would have outdoor hot tubs.

The project is on the same block as 325 Fifth Avenue, a 40-story mid-block tower now nearing completion.

An article by Dakota Smith in the June 29, 2006 edition of The New York Post, quoted Mr. Heiberger as stating that "With land in the immediate area trading for around $400 per foot, we were impressed with the profit we could make without constructing the project. The article noted that Buttonwood Real Estate paid around $11.37 million for the site in early 2005, adding "That's about $160 a square foot for the lot."

The article, however, also stated that Buttonwood "is going ahead with its design plans for Sundari Lofts & Tower, presumably in case no deep-pocketed buyer steps forward."

John F. Ciraulo of Massey Knakal told CityRealty.com today that the asking price for the property, which also has the addresses of 19 East 32nd Street and 22 East 33rd Street, is $30,500,000. He said that the site now contains 81,249 "buildable" square feet. Mr. Ciraulo said that Massey Knakal began marketing the property two weeks ago.

The site was formerly occupied by a utility substation that at one time served as Andy Warhol's studio.