From left: Hotel Yotel on West 42nd Street, the Silver Towers on West 42nd Street and the bar Traffic on West 48th Street

Along with all the new hotels and residential developments rising in the formerly crime-infested Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, liquor licenses are also on the rise. According to the Wall Street Journal, that has enraged many residents. Today, local politicians, police and other officials will meet to address the issue.

The State Liquor Authority has approved 699 liquor licenses for the area, which stretches from 42nd to 57th streets west of Eighth Avenue. [more]

A new gay bar at 793 Ninth Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd streets in Hell’s Kitchen, named Flaming Saddles, has a cowboy theme, DNAinfo reported, and, unlike some other gay bars, its opening has come and gone without any complaints from neighboring residents.

Hell’s Kitchen has become somewhat of a hotspot recently for new gay clubs and bars, DNAinfo said. Angry neighbors are currently fighting to stop a new gay sports bar, called Boxers, from opening at 776 Tenth Avenue, also between 52nd and 53rd streets, because it’s close to two schools.

Hell’s Kitchen residents are becoming concerned that the neighborhood is oversaturated with bars and nightlife establishments in general.
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Architect Luke Clark Tyler is paying $800 a month for a 78-square-foot studio in Hell’s Kitchen, Refinery29 reported, and might be setting a new record for New York’s smallest apartment. It features a bed that also functions as a couch, a minibar-sized refrigerator, and a built-in closet. A video on YouTube (above) offers a tour of the space. [Refinery29]

New residential developments are slowly turning a stretch of Hell’s Kitchen from one of the largest patches of undeveloped land in Manhattan into a vibrant enclave, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In the last three years, MiMA, a rental and condo building by Related on 42nd Street and 10th Avenue, Emerald Green, a 569-unit development on West 38th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues and 455W37 and 505W37, TF Cornerstone projects on West 37th Street near 10th Avenue, have all come to the neighborhood. Construction is underway on more projects, the Journal said, including a rental building by Glenwood Management at 330 West 39th Street. [more]

Renderings from Griffin Court

Griffin Court Condominium, a residential building at 800 10th Avenue between 53rd and 54th streets, has announced its official sales launch date, March 9, in conjunction with the unveiling of several building and unit renderings. The Hell’s Kitchen development will include 95 units divided between two eight-story towers, which will be connected by a communal lobby. The units are priced between $735,000 and $3.86 million and are available in studio, and one-, two- and three-bedroom sizes. The first 15 to buy in the building will have their mansion tax, as well as state and city transfer tax, paid for by the developer, Alchemy Properties. TRD
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A popular gay Spanish hotel chain will open its first New York City location in 2011, On Top Magazine has reported, with a possible Miami location planned as well. Axel Hotels, an international chain with outposts in Barcelona, Berlin and Buenos Aires, did not confirm the exact address of its new hotel site, but said that it will be located in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. The news is seen as a coup for city tourism officials, who have been courting gay travel with a nearly $2 million ad campaign celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a 1969 Greenwich Village protest identified with the start of the gay rights movement. The New York City location is part of the chain’s recent massive expansion effort — Axel Hotels plans to open new outposts in Amsterdam, London and Paris in the near future.

Lev Parkview investor Mati Weiderpass and the 505 Condominium at 505 West 47th Street

Just weeks before closings began at the 505 Condominium in Hell’s Kitchen, Lev Parkview Developers sent letters to dozens of buyers at the building, threatening to forfeit their deposits if they failed to close on their contracts and move forward with a federal lawsuit, according to documents obtained by The Real Deal. The 108-unit condo, located at 505 West 47th Street, is facing litigation from dozens of buyers who want to get their deposits back, amid a lawsuit alleging that Lev Parkview failed to provide property reports to buyers and submit a so-called statement of record with the federal department of Housing and Urban Development. The financial statement is required under the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, a federal statute originally used to protect buyers from scam swampland purchases in Florida. The act has been used in a number of condo suits in New York and other states, and applies to buildings with 100 units or more.  More

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