Bedford-Stuyvesant
277 Nostrand Avenue
The five-story brownstone is being converted into seven condominium units. The one-and two-bedroom apartments will range in size from 637 to 710 square feet and start at $244,000. Abraham Hertzberg designed the project. The building is slated for occupancy in spring 2006. The Developers Group is the exclusive sales agent. Contact: www.thedevelopersgroup.com.
Boerum Hill
52 Dean Street
Recal Associates has broken ground on the five-story, 23-unit condominium. The building will include one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from 800 to 2,600 square feet. Fifth-floor units will be sold as penthouses and each will have a terrace garden. One townhouse-style triplex unit will feature a private garden.
Chelsea
Remy
101 West 28th Street
Excavation work began recently for a new residential tower. The Costas Kondylis-designed project is expected to be 32 stories high and contain one- and two-bedroom apartments, some full-floor apartments, a duplex unit, and a penthouse with terraces, Curbed.com reported.
Chelsea
261 West 28th Street
An 11-story, 53-unit condominium tower will go up at the site, replacing three vacant buildings. Sonnenblick-Goldman arranged $55 million in acquisition and development financing for the developer. The project will total 80,000 square feet. Core Group Marketing is the exclusive marketing and sales agent.
Fort Greene
Cumberland Greene
237 Cumberland Street
The four-story condominium will offer four three-bedroom units ranging from 1,800 square feet to 2,200 square feet for the duplex penthouse, the New York Post reported. Amenities include a landscaped garden and a waterfall, while a pool and fitness center will be available in the basement. Prices are expected to start at $1.5 million. The developers are two local artists who live next-door to the building. Brooklyn Properties is marketing the project. Contact: www.brooklynproperties.com.
Greenpoint
The Kingsland Condos
240 Kingsland Avenue
Developers Sal Gargano and Fred Rufrano are converting the 1930s brick rowhouse into six condominiums, with prices from $469,000 to $615,000. Two of the units will be two-bedrooms with more than 600 square feet; two will be three-bedrooms just under 1,000 square feet; and two will be duplexes with private backyard lawns. PJM Architects designed the project. David Maundrell of aptsandlofts.com is the sales agent.
Greenpoint
Luxe 226
226 Richardson Street
Sales are under way at the 10-unit condominium designed by Andres Escobar. The five-story building houses one-bedroom lofts and two-bedroom duplexes ranging in size from 1,393 to 2,219 square feet. Prices start at $775,000. Occupancy is scheduled for late 2006. The Developers Group is the exclusive sales and marketing agent. Contact: www.thedevelopersgroup.com.
Harlem
The Marshall
222 West 135th Street
The Griffin Real Estate Group is partnering with Dabar Development Partners to build a 10-unit brownstone condominium. The units will include one- and two-bedrooms, as well as penthouse duplexes with gardens. Occupancy is slated for April 2006. Contact: www.themarshallcondos.com.
Lower East Side
108 Delancey Street
Acacia Development is converting the rental into five two-bedroom condominiums and a duplex penthouse. The seven-story project, designed by Meltzer/Mandl Architects, will also have retail space on the ground floor.
Lower Manhattan
The Cocoa Exchange
1 Wall Street Court
The building, which bears a strong resemblance to the Flatiron Building, was the site of the New York Cocoa Exchange from 1931 to 1972. Design firm McCartan worked on the 126-unit boutique conversion, where studios will be as small as 340 square feet, while three-bedrooms will top out at 1,374 square feet. Prices are expected to be around $800,000 to $1.7 million for one- and two-bedrooms, while the studios are expected to sell in the $300,000 range, the Post reported. Occupancy is slated for spring 2006. Contact: www.cocoany.com.
Lower Manhattan
Greenwich Club
88 Greenwich Street
Buttonwood Real Estate’s conversion of the 37-story Art Deco building will create 458 condo units. Studios, one- and two-bedrooms will be available, ranging from 500 to 1,350 square feet. Prices are expected to be around $1,100 a square foot, the Post reported. Contact: www.buttonwoodrealestate.com.
Midtown
150 West 57th Street
A condominium tower designed by Costas Kondylis is planned on top of the famed Russian Tea Room, which closed in 2002. The restaurant’s owner, RTR Funding Group, has received city approval to build a tower up to 29 stories, according to the Post.
Midtown East
The Capri
235 East 55th Street
Arun Bhatia Development has completed the 40 units that comprise the Costas Kondylis-designed condominium. The one- to three-bedroom units begin on the 33rd floor of the building and offer Central Park and East River views. Residences, available for immediate occupancy, range in size from 651 to 1,930 square feet. Prices run from $855,000 to $3.4 million. The Marketing Directors is the exclusive sales and marketing agent. Contact: 212-980-8555, www.thecaprinyc.com.
Midtown East
440 Park Avenue
The Macklowe Organization will demolish the 80-year-old Drake Swissotel to make room for a luxury condominium complex, with the possibility of commercial and retail space on the lower floors. The site has air rights for a building of nearly 70 floors, according to the Post.
Midtown East
The Veneto
Southwest corner of Second Avenue and 53rd Street
The Related Companies’ new condominium will have 137 one-, two- and three-bedroom units, the Post reported. Davis Brody Bond is the architect; Adam Tihany will design the interiors. No prices have been determined.
Park Slope
Highpoint Condominiums
560 Seventh Avenue
Sales are under way at the six-story, 11-unit condominium. Most units are two-bedrooms with outside balconies. The first-floor unit is a one-bedroom unit. Building amenities include a common roof deck with city and harbor views and six parking spaces. Contact: Brooklyn Properties, 718-857-2525 x41, www.highpointcondos.net.
The Rockaways
Arverne by the Sea
Benjamin Development Co. and the Beechwood Organization are building 2,300 units of mixed-income housing and 250,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. The project is slated to be completed in 2009, Crain’s reported. The city is also considering a proposal for a second project, Arverne East, which would allow for 1,500 mixed-income units, 500,000 square feet of commercial development, and a 35-acre nature preserve.
Soho
21 Mercer Street
The building houses four units, all floor-through lofts with 10- to 14-foot ceilings. Two of the units are already in contract, but two apartments remain — both 3,021-square-foot three-bedrooms priced at $3.875 million. Occupancy is expected in July.
Tribeca
50-52 Laight Street
Developer Kengo Watanabe plans to transform the two parking garages into a six-story, 17,500-square-foot residential building with a two-story penthouse addition, according to the Downtown Express. Watanabe will need to secure the support of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission to build in the historic district and secure a variance from the Board of Standards and Appeals to expand into the rear lot.
Williamsburg
The Edge
East River waterfront
Douglaston Development and UBS are slated to begin work in May 2006 on the mixed-use development. When completed, it will include 547 condominium units, 344 affordable rental apartments, underground parking for 600 cars, 63,500 square feet of retail space, and a waterfront esplanade, park, and piers. The Singer & Bassuk Organization was retained to arrange a $450 million construction loan.
Windsor Terrace
The Simone
35 McDonald Avenue
Brooklyn-based Basile Builders Group will open sales early this spring for the building’s 38 condominium units. Prices for the one- to three-bedroom loft-style apartments are expected to begin in the $500,000 range. Adam Naim and Sebastian Giuliano of Brooklyn-based Bricolage Designs designed the five-story building; NICHE Environmentally Smart Design Group is the interior designer. Contact: 718-630-1111, www. basilebuilders.com.
Construction Update
Bryant Park
485 Fifth Avenue
Belfonti Capital Partners began construction in January on the 104-unit condominium conversion. Fashion designer Peter Som designed the project. The residences will range in size from one to four bedrooms; the one penthouse will have 3,000 square feet of outdoor space.
Chelsea
Chelsea House
130 West 19th Street
The Clarett Group topped out the 14-story, 64-unit condominium in January. Contact: www.chelseahousecondo.com.
Greenwood Heights
614 Seventh Avenue
Developer Chaim Nussencweig wants to build the condominium up to 70 feet, but the project may be scaled back by a third because of new zoning in the area, the New York Daily News reported. Residents object to the project because it could block the view of the Statue of Liberty from the statue of Minerva in Green-Wood Cemetery.
Morningside Heights
Ariel West
Broadway between 99th and 100th streets
Construction is moving forward on the 32-story glass tower, despite continued opposition from some neighborhood residents, the New York Times reported. The building is part of a two-tower residential project — the other tower, a taller one, is across Broadway — being done by Extell Development Corporation. A supermarket that stood where the Ariel West is going collapsed during demolition in July, injuring 10 people.
Murray Hill
45 Park Avenue
Demolition began in January on the 146-room Sheraton Russell hotel, according to the New York Sun. The new owners are building a 15-story, 105-unit residential condominium.
Tribeca
Block bounded by West, Washington, Watts, and Desbrosses streets
The Jack Parker Corp.’s plan to build a major residential project got a big boost last month when the City Planning Commission voted in favor of reviewing a proposed zoning change. If enacted, the rezoning will allow Parker to build up to 300 apartments in a 260,000-squarefoot project that would also include a garage. The company has not yet decided whether to build rentals or condos. The project faces community opposition due to its height.
West Village
360 West 11th Street
The city’s Buildings Department in January lifted its stop-work order against artist Julian Schnabel’s nine-story condo addition to his studio, the New York Observer reported. Schnabel can now move forward with the addition. His plans had been originally halted by the Buildings Department because of the October vote by the City Council downzoning much of the neighborhood.
Woodside
53-03 Broadway
Pafos Realty is seeking to build a six-story rental building with 42 units, the New York Daily News reported. Local residents object to the size of the project; the city’s Board of Standards and Appeals will decide the outcome.
Financing
Hudson Heights
Castelli di Cabrini
205 Cabrini Boulevard
The three-unit Hudson Heights development that resembles a small castle is on hold as developers restructure the construction financing on the project, the Post reported. Only one home, a 2,000-square-foot duplex listed for $4.8 million, was on the market. There is no immediate time frame on when it will return to the market, according to Sidney Whelan, the Prudential Douglas Elliman agent who represents the apartment. Meanwhile, developers are still deciding how — and even if — they will market the two remaining apartments.
Jersey City
Trump Jersey City
Washington and Bay streets
Corus Bank has closed on a $171-million loan to an affiliate of Metro Homes, which is developing the project in partnership with Donald Trump. When completed, the complex will contain 462 units in two towers, which will be the tallest buildings in New Jersey, GlobeSt.com reported.
Sales Update
Bryant Park
Bryant Park Tower
100 West 39th Street
The 10-story condo atop the Residence Inn hotel has sold 80 percent of its 93 units.
Dumbo
70 Washington Street
The 259-unit condominium conversion by Two Trees Management is 60 percent sold.
Harlem
The Crown
2132 Second Avenue
The condo is 40 percent sold out since opening for sales last year, the Post reported.
Lower Manhattan
Cipriani Club Residences
55 Wall Street
Developer Steven Witkoff paid $500,000 to break his sales and marketing contract with the Corcoran Sunshine Group for the 106-unit building, the New York Times reported. On Feb. 1, Corcoran Sunshine’s agents were escorted from the building and replaced with marketing and sales people from Prudential Douglas Elliman — but not before Witkoff paid up. Contact: www.ciprianiresidences.com.
Midtown West
Atelier
627 West 42nd Street
The sales office opened in February at the 46-story condominium residence now under construction by the Moinian Group and MacFarlane Partners.
Upper West Side
Fifteen Central Park West
Sales surpassed the billion-dollar mark in January, according to the Post. Of the 202 units, more than 100 have been sold. Contact: www.15cpw.com.
Development in Brief
Manhattan (north to south)
23 East 128th Street
The Developers Group is marketing the new condo, called the Madison, according to the Post.
Upper East Side
Construction is slated to begin this year on two developments that could help transform the area around the intersection of 86th Street and Lexington Avenue, according to the New York Times. Extell Development Corporation plans a glassy L-shaped building between 85th and 86th streets that will contain about 150 condos and 20 rentals. And the Related Companies and its partners plan a condo development on Third Avenue and 86th Street with about 25,000 square feet of retail space.
101 West 24th Street
Later this year, a joint venture of LCOR and CalSTRS will begin construction of a 37-story, 191-unit condominium tower on the parking lot site, the Sun reported.
155 Spring Street
YL Realty will turn the top floors into condos when the leases run out, the Post reported.
173-5 East Broadway
The 29 condos under development in the 60,000-square-foot building are priced between $600,000 and $5 million, the Times reported.