Halcyon, 305 East 51st Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 305 East 51st Street by Carter Horsley

The Halcyon is a 32-story residential tower with 123 condominium apartments at 305 East 51^st Street on the former site of a planned 43-story apartment tower at 303 East 5lst Street where a crane collapse when the building was 19 stories tall in 2008 killed 7 people and injured 24 others.

The original developer was Kennelly Development Company LLC and the original architect was Garrett Gourlay.

The new tower, which has been scheduled for completion in 2015 and is also known as 964-976 Second Avenue, has been developed by HFZ Capital Group and designed by SLCE Architects. S. Russell Groves was the interior designer.

Bottom Line

A 32-story, slab apartment tower on Second Avenue with many amenities including a landscaped courtyard with a fire pit.

Description

A slab tower with corner windows and two setbacks on a two-story limestone base with an indented side-street entrance.

Amenities

The building has a full-time doorman, concierge services, a library with access to a landscaped courtyard with fire pit, a “sky lounge” on the 21^st floor with a media and dining room with a catering kitchen, double-height lobby and a double-height “motion studio” with a 52-foot-long swimming pool, a children’s playroom, a laundry room, bicycle storage, onsite parking for a fee, and resident storage for a fee.

Apartments

Apartments have ceilings of about 10 feet. 6-inch-wide-plank oak flooring, solid-core wooden interior doors in white paint finish, and Bosch washer and dryer in separate closet.

Kitchens are designed by Poliform with Silver Fox lacquered cabinetry and under-cabinet lighting, Calacatta Gold Lignano marble countertops and backsplashes, Miele refrigerators and freezers and electric ovens with gas cooktops and exhaust hood, Subzero wine cooler, and Miele dishwashers.

Master baths have white statuary marble walls and flooring, bleached walnut vanities with Statuary marble countertops, Tea-for-Two Kohler bathtubs and radiant heated flooring.

Residence A on the 10^th floor is a three-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads to a 29-foot-long living/dining room with an open kitchen alcove.

Residence G on the 5^th floor is a two-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads to a 32-foot-long living/dining room with an open kitchen with an island and a study.

Residence F on the 11^th floor is a two-bedroom unit with a foyer that leads past an open, pass-through kitchen to a 20-foot-long living/dining room.

Residence C on the 10^th floor is a one-bedroom unit with a foyer that leads past a pass-through kitchen to a 16-foot-long living/dining room.

History

The development was started by the Kennelly Development Company LLC that planned a 40-story residential tower with silvery glass and angled balconies designed by Garrett Gourlay at 303 East 51^st Street with 117 condominium apartments.

Kennelly’s other projects had included Block Hall at 21-23 South William Street in the Financial District, and the Sycamore at 250 East 30^th Street.

Mr. Gourlay’s other projects had included the Vesta 24 residential condominium project at 231 Tenth Avenue at 24^th Street and 611 Avenue of the Americas, which  was also known as 100 West 18^th Street.

At the end of 2007, Kennelly decided to increase the building’s height to 44 stories, but on March 15, 2008 a crane at the site collapsed, killing 7 people and injuring 24 others.

In June, 2008, the Department of Buildings revoked the building’s permit and a June 14, 2008 article in The New York Times said that revised plans submitted by the developer did not resolve zoning violations “that had led the city to question the project’s status even before the crane incident.”

HFZ Capital Group, a partnership of Tamir Sapir of The Sapir Organization, Ziel Feldman, chairman of Polar Investments, and Acro Real Estate of Israel, acquired a $40 million note on the planned tower in 2011 and an article at therealdeal.com by Avihu Kadosh June 20, 2011 said tat “the original developer, Kennelly Development Company LLC, which is headed by James P. Kennelly, had invested more than $110 million for the defaulted project, according to sources.”

The new building plan, designed by SLCE Architects, was then renamed the Halcyon, had its address changed to 305 East 51^st Street and its height reduced to 32 stories with a total of 123 apartments.