The developer of a Soho office building is no longer requesting a
zoning variance to build an 11-story structure at 330 West
Broadway at Grand Street. The planned structure, which was criticized
by Community Board 2 and the
Soho Alliance, would have been a 55 percent increase in bulk over what
is permitted by the current zoning. The property’s owner, John De
Lorenzo and Bro Iron, is currently engaged in litigation with the
developer, West Broadway 330 LLC, for allegedly failing to provide
payments after agreeing to put down a $500,000 deposit. The developer
has filed a counterclaim, charging that De Lorenzo violated the deal’s
confidentiality agreement after news of the deal’s collapse became
public. [more]

 The former Kira Plastinina space on Broadway (left) has been rented, while the Satellite space on West Broadway (right) is on the market

Shuttered stores on Broadway and West Broadway in Soho mean very different things, retail brokers say. On Broadway, between Canal and Houston streets, most of the shuttered
stores are currently being renovated and new tenants are moving in,
while on the same stretch of five blocks on West Broadway, the closed
stores are seeing little activity. Retail brokers say Broadway has had several new deals in the past few months. In addition to Escada taking Ann Taylor’s space at 560 Broadway and Bebe leasing the former Staples space
at 488 Broadway, a Spanish apparel company recently signed to take over
Kira Plastinina’s store at 594 Broadway. And off the avenue on Prince
Street, a menswear designer just signed for a space, according to Karen
Bellantoni, an executive vice president at Robert K. Futterman & Associates. [more]