David Schechtman and 310 East 55th Street
The 3.6-acre waterfront plot near Citi Field in Queens that was reported to be in default by The Real Deal is guaranteed by 75 co-op units in Midtown Manhattan.
According to the New York Daily News, lender U.S. Bank is seeking the highest bid for the mortgage it provided to Abs Flushing Development for the site, at 39-08 Janet Place. The new owner will also take control of the co-ops at 310 East 55th Street. [more]
Two years have passed since the opening of new stadiums for the Yankees and Mets, but local businesses around the areas are still struggling.
In the Bronx, retailers near Yankee Stadium are looking for a pick up in the economy to boost sales. “I was very excited in the beginning when the new stadium opened and thought it was going to be better for us, but it was not,” said Mike Hong, owner of D&J Variety Store on 161st Street near the stadium.
In reality, the new stadium included more bars, restaurants and shops selling Yankees merchandise and memorabilia to compete with local merchants, a Metro-North commuter train stop and more parking spots that diverted foot traffic. [more]
Willets Point landowners will take legal action against the city for beginning construction on traffic ramps meant to ease congestion expected with the redevelopment of the area near Citi Field, according to the Daily News. Some property owners have been at odds with the city over the space for more than a year. This time, the landowners believe the city reneged on a promise to begin construction on the Van Wyck Expressway ramps only after obtaining permission from the Federal Highway Administration and the Department of Transportation. [more]
The Donald is pitching the embattled Wilpon family on a bailout for their New York Mets, he told the New York Times today. Trump, who has a habit of making public plays to take over struggling New York City institutions (see: Tavern on the Green, Lasker and Wollman rinks), told the paper that he called friend and fellow developer Fred Wilpon a couple of weeks ago to set up a meeting to discuss the possibility of buying the team. Wilpon, who is the team’s principal owner, said last month that he was seeking a buyer for up to a quarter of the club after being sued by the trustee in the Bernard Madoff bankruptcy case for as much as $1 billion. The Wilpon-Trump meeting hasn’t happened yet, but Trump said he won’t settle for anything less than majority ownership. [more]
Time is running out for the holdouts in Queens’ Willets Point, where the city is planning to make its first move towards seizing a 20-acre swath of land through eminent domain next week. According to the Wall Street Journal, the parcel represents the first phase of the 62-acre development project, for which the city will begin soliciting bids from developers in April. Among the developers who have previously expressed interest in the project are the Related Companies, Muss Development and the Wilpon Family’s Sterling Equities. Comments
For months, state officials have been privately questioning the safety, design and impact of highway ramps crucial to the $3 billion development of Willets Point in Queens, according to hundreds of e-mails that an opponent of the project fed to the New York Times. The state officials who have expressed concern are some of the same officials whose approval is needed for the project to move forward. “Unless the preparers of this report start accepting the idea that it is seriously flawed, we are going nowhere,” wrote Michael Bergman, a structural engineer for the state’s Department of Transportation Dec. 28, while reviewing the city’s application. The Bloomberg Administration has pushed hard for Willets Point, which would eventually have 5,500 apartments, office buildings, retail stores and a hotel in place of the auto repair shops, factories and junkyards in the area. The ramps in question are supposed to connect Willets Point to the Van Wyck Expressway, but officials have repeatedly been frustrated by the city’s inaccurate information and on the pressure it was placing on the state to finish its analysis quickly. Peter King, a state project manager, wrote to a colleague in January in response to a typo that stated the development’s expected completion date was 2107 instead of 2017: “Perhaps that reference to 2107 may have been closer to the truth than anyone realizes.” [NYT]
For months, state officials have been privately questioning the safety, design and impact of highway ramps crucial to the $3 billion development of Willets Point in Queens, according to hundreds of e-mails that an opponent of the project fed to the New York Times. The state officials who have expressed concern are some of the same officials whose approval is needed for the project to move forward. “Unless the preparers of this report start accepting the idea that it is seriously flawed, we are going nowhere,” wrote Michael Bergman, a structural engineer for the state’s Department of Transportation Dec. 28, while reviewing the city’s application. The Bloomberg Administration has pushed hard for Willets Point, which would eventually have 5,500 apartments, office buildings, retail stores and a hotel in place of the auto repair shops, factories and junkyards in the area. The ramps in question are supposed to connect Willets Point to the Van Wyck Expressway, but officials have repeatedly been frustrated by the city’s inaccurate information and on the pressure it was placing on the state to finish its analysis quickly. Peter King, a state project manager, wrote to a colleague in January in response to a typo that stated the development’s expected completion date was 2107 instead of 2017: “Perhaps that reference to 2107 may have been closer to the truth than anyone realizes.” [NYT]
Could the New York Islanders be coming to Queens? According to NY1, Jeff Wilpon, the Mets’ CEO, is in talks with the hockey team’s owner, Charles Wang, to build an arena for the Islanders near the new Citi Field in Willets Point. Wilpon, who said he would consider buying the money-losing Islanders, has also spoken with Major League Soccer about bringing a team to the area, though he’d have to choose one or the other: there isn’t enough room for both a soccer stadium and a hockey arena at the site. [NY1]
New Yorkers will be able to enjoy a variety of burgers in 2010 with the opening of a number of burger restaurants in Manhattan.
Elevation Burger, the Virginia-based chain specializing in an organic, grass-fed, free-range burger, has signed a lease for its first location at 103 West 14th Street in Union Square. The 1,900-square-foot restaurant will seat 50 to 60 guests. The restaurant, which will also have an outdoor café, is scheduled to open in May.
Also in May, Stephen Hanson and B. R. Guest Restaurants’, Bill’s Bar & Burger is scheduled to open in Rockefeller Center. The company has signed a lease for 10,000 square feet of space on the street and concourse levels at 50th and 51st streets, between Fifth and Sixth avenues. The first Bill’s Bar & Burger opened in October 2009 in the Meatpacking District, as The Real Deal reported in “Burger Joints Supersizing“ in that month’s issue. [more]
The Mets’ new Citi Field is already breaking down, the New York Post
reported. Several of the luxury suites have water damage, and other
areas of the stadium have seen mold, falling concrete and signs,
flooding of the outfield seats and faulty electrical wiring. Actor
Jerry Seinfeld’s luxury suite and three others have developed mold as a
result of a water leak. These suites cost $250,000 to $500,000 per year
to rent. Repairmen tore down the suites’ walls in early August to look
for the source of the leak. Dave Howard, the team’s executive vice
president of business operations, said the problems were to be expected
in a 1.2 million-square-foot building. [more]
