The High Line

As new developments rise along the High Line in West Chelsea, families are flocking to them, the New York Times reported.

A lack of family-sized apartments Downtown has sent prices for luxury condominiums surging past those of Uptown and Midtown. One of the most sought-after neighborhoods is West Chelsea, as the High Line’s elevated parkland continues to drive development. [more]

From left: Travis Wilson and 151 West 26th Street (credit: PropertyShark)

Clothing designer Ralph Rucci is tripling its office, manufacturing and showroom space and leaving its Soho location behind for a full-floor loft in Chelsea. [more]

Richard Persichetti and Chelsea Market

The Chelsea/Meatpacking area of Midtown South had the lowest availability of office leasing space of any of Manhattan’s 19 submarkets, according to Richard Persichetti, vice president of research at Cassidy Turley. Some 6.9 percent of space was vacant in the first quarter of 2013 — a drop from the nearly 9 percent availability in the previous quarter, Persichetti noted in a New York Observer column. [more]

The Hopper Gibbons House and LPC Chair Robert Tierney

The owner of the landmarked Hopper Gibbons House, a former stop on the Underground Railroad, has sued the city to retain a rooftop penthouse that the Department of Buildings ordered him to tear down, DNAinfo reported.

Tony Mamounas claims the historic significance of 339 West 29th Street is immaterial and is seeking to overturn a February decision from the Board of Standards and Appeals that put the property under the jurisdiction of the Landmarks Preservation Commission — a group that would likely force him to dismantle the addition, DNAinfo said. [more]

From left: Christine Quinn, Hotel Chelsea, Joseph Chetrit

UPDATED, 12:04 p.m., March 23: The city Department of Buildings ordered Joseph Chetrit to stop work at the Hotel Chelsea late Friday night, in response to a construction incident that knocked out gas, heat and hot water at the property — and a day after City Council Speaker Christine Quinn demanded an immediate shutdown of construction. [more]

From left: Eric Greenfield (credit: DNAinfo) and Penn South

Eric Greenfield, a former payroll manager at the Penn South co-op development, pleaded not guilty this week to allegations of embezzling nearly $190,000 from the Chelsea complex’s checking account, DNAinfo reported. He was released on a $150,000 bail bond. Despite the not guilty plea, Greenfield told police that a “financial hardship” led him to steal a total of $187,428, DNAinfo said. Greenfield was arrested last month and charged with grand larceny for the alleged theft. [more]

339 West 29th Street at center

Tony Mamounas, the owner of the historic Hopper Gibbons House at 339 West 29th Street, lost his appeal to keep an allegedly illegally-constructed addition atop his property, DNAinfo reported. The Board of Standards and Appeals voted to have Mamounas appear before the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which will determine whether the fifth-floor addition can stay. [more]

32 West 29th Street (credit: PropertyShark)

The long-vacant lot at 32 West 29th Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue will soon be filled by a 21-story hotel, records filed with the Department of Buildings show. [more]

Gene Kaufman and 125 West 28th Street (credit: PropertyShark)

Gene Kaufman has built himself a mini-empire around West 28th Street. The architect is behind the design of the hotel rising at 125 West 28th Street, directly next to a Kaufman-designed Holiday Inn Garden at 121 West 28th Street and in front of another Kaufman-designed building, New York YIMBY reported. [more]

From left: The lot at 101 West 28th Street and Nobutaka Ashihara

The site of a stalled construction project at 101 West 28th Street could get new life, the blog New York YIMBY reported. New building permits have been filed to develop a 28-story hotel and residential property, which will have 152 units and stand 296 feet high. New York-based Nobutaka Ashihara is the architect on record. There are no project renderings available at this time. [more]