Chelsea
Chelsea House
130 West 19th Street
The Clarett Group is building a 14- story, 64-unit condo tower. The 100,000-square-foot apartment building is being designed by Randy Gerner of GKV Architects. Construction is expected to begin in late spring and be completed by June 2006.
Chelsea
655 Sixth Avenue
Sales are underway at the Hugh O’Neill Building, which Elad Properties will reopen later this year as a condo building. The landmarked structure is offering one, two and three-bedroom homes on its five existing floors and has received permission from the Landmarks Preservation Commission to build an additional two floors of penthouse residences. Elad is also planning to construct three townhouselike duplex residences on the building’s 20th Street rooftop. The property will contain a total of 49 units, ranging in size from nearly 1,000 square feet to over 5,000 square feet for the largest penthouse units, which will also come with a 2,500-square-foot outdoor terrace. Prices range from approximately $1 million to $7 million. Occupancy is slated for September 2006. Cantor Pecorella is the sales agent for the project. Contact: sales office at 212-807- 6565 or theoneillbuilding.com.
Downtown Brooklyn
The Court House
125 Court Street
Leasing is under way at the 320- unit rental building developed by Two Trees Management, with around 50 units still available. The building features apartments on 11 floors and two duplexes. Units range in size from 465 square feet to 1,250 square feet and in price from $1,660 to $4,500 per month. All units in the fullservice building have doubleglazed oversized windows, ninefoot soundproof ceilings, red oak floors, and many units have private terraces and balconies. Each resident will be given a free membership to the on-site YMCA. . Contact: leasing office, 718-222- 4747.
East Williamsburg
1610 DeKalb Avenue
Two-story brick warehouse, with three additional stories added on, that will house 23 loft-style apartments. Some units will have 16-foot ceilings, and there will be three duplexes. The project is scheduled to be completed at the end of the summer. American Development Group is the developer and Adam Kushner is the architect.
Flatiron District
4 West 21st Street
17-story, 62-unit loft building designed by architects Hugh Hardy and Ariel Fausto. The site is currently being cleared for the 93,000-square-foot building, which will include 105 parking spaces. Completion is scheduled for 2006.
Greenwich Village
25 Fifth Avenue
Developer Aby Rosen’s RFR Holdings plans to convert the 87-unit, 107,000-square-foot apartment tower to condos, according to reports. RFR recently purchased the building for $46.3 million.
Harlem
The Walden
69 East 130th Street
A new eight-story condominium nearing completion will offer 25 one, two, and three-bedroom units, including six penthouses and three maisonettes ranging in price from $350,000 to $750,000. The building will have a 24-hour doorman. Contact: Katherine Gauthier, Douglas Elliman, 212- 769-6544.
Long Island City
45-56 Pearson Street
Rosma Development is planning a 20-story “Manhattan-style building” with 120 units ranging from one-bedrooms to penthouses. Groundbreaking is expected in July, with the project expected to be completed in early 2007. Prices are expected to range from $600 to $700 a square foot, the Daily News reported. Unlike other major projects in the area, the building is not on the waterfront and is the first major development inside a 37-block industrial area that was rezoned in 2001.
Lower East Side
154 Attorney Street
32-unit doorman condo building with sales expected to start at the beginning of this month. Designed by Kutnicki/Bernstein Architects, it includes two fourbedroom penthouses, and many units have private terraces. The building will also have six rooftop cabanas that will be available for sale to residents of lower floors, according to curbed.com. Contact: Rob Gross, Douglas Elliman, 212- 727-6130.
Lower East Side
Switch Building
109 Norfolk Street
The seven-story, nine-unit building, designed by nArchitects, is currently under construction. The building is named “switch” because of its facade of metal panels set at alternating angles, a reinterpretation of the traditional bay window, according to the Web site triplemint.com. Contact: 109norfolk.com
Madison Square Park
One Madison Avenue
The building’s landmark tower, which is 50 stories tall and contains 270,000 square feet, will be converted to condos. The 10-story southern portion of the building will remain the offices of Credit Suisse First Boston. Real estate investment trust SL Green bought the office building last month and is expected to partner with a residential developer for the conversion project.
Madison Square Park
400 Park Avenue South
A 40-story tower comprised of 432 rental apartments ranging from studios to three-bedrooms is planned on the site of a parking lot. The project at 28th Street is being designed by Handel Architects and Atelier Christian de Portzamparc, and was approved by the Department of City Planning and local Community Board, though work has not yet begun. A subway entrance and retail space will occupy the ground floor, while a fitness club and kids’ center will be located on the second floor.
Midtown East
Sutton Hotel
330 East 56th Street
The 84-room hotel is scheduled to close in June for conversion to condos by developer Alchemy Properties. No information on the size and scope of the conversion was available as of press time.
Midtown East
305 East 46th Street
A 17-story brick office building will be converted to condos by Intell Management, which has offices in the building and bought it last year, the Daily News reported.
Jersey City
Port Libert
The master-planned waterfront community with views of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, and New York Harbor is already 70 percent sold. There are 96 residences, including one and two-bedroom units ranging from 766 to 1,510 square feet, located in four-story buildings with indoor parking. Community facilities include 24-hour gatehouse security, a clubhouse with outdoor pool, health club and fitness center, tennis courts and a fullcourt basketball court. Work is also progressing on an adjacent 18-hole golf course. Contact: sales office at 201-536-0300 or portlibertedirect.com.
Upper West Side
Broadway bet. West 61st and 62nd Streets
An empty lot next to the Mayflower Hotel owned by the Zeckendorfs, Goldman Sachs and an Eyal Ofer-led company will house a two-towered building with 250 to 280 apartments – probably condos – and 88,000 square feet of stores on four levels, the Post reported. Occupancy is expected in late 2007. The project is being designed by Cesar Pelli and Associates.
Washington Heights
4650 Broadway
Acadia Realty Trust plans to develop a mixed-use project with 300,000 square feet of residential, retail and commercial space. The White Plains-based REIT recently bought the site – which houses a city building and a commercial parking garage – and is considering selling the rights to develop the 150,000-square-foot residential portion.
Williamsburg
55 Berry Street
A 35-unit loft condo conversion has river views starting on the third floor. The lofts range from 1,092 to 1,361 square feet, with prices ranging from $755,000 to $1.4 million. Interiors have been designed by Andres Escobar. Each unit has two baths, 12-foot ceilings, maple flooring, and an open kitchen with “floating” center island. There is a common garden on the second floor. Contact: Helene Luchnick, Douglas Elliman, 212-965-6008.
Sales Update
Downtown Brooklyn
Boulevard East
53 Boerum Place
11-story, 99-unit condo building had four apartments remaining for sale as of mid-April. The one and two-bedroom units available range from $586,000 to $700,000. Contact: Cheryl Nielsen-Saaf, Corcoran, 718-522- 4919 or boulevardeast.com.
Midtown
The Plaza Hotel
Elad Properties and hotel union workers reached an agreement last month to reduce the number of planned condominium conversions at the hotel from 200 to around 150 units. The agreement also calls for maintaining roughly 350 hotel rooms, up from the 150 originally planned to be saved. The Plaza’s Grand Ballroom, Palm Court and Oak Bar will be preserved and remain open to the public, and the plan will allow more than double the original estimate of hotel workers to keep their jobs. Contact: condo sales, Rosita Sarnoff, Stribling, 212- 585-4542.
Financing
Hoboken
Maxwell Place
1025 – 1125 Maxwell Lane
The developers of a condo project on the former Maxwell House Coffee plant site on the Hudson River last month secured financing for the first phase of the project. Hypo Real Estate Capital Corporation closed a $338 million construction loan to developer PT Maxwell for the project, which will eventually include four buildings with 832 residential units and 206,000 square feet of commercial space.
Midtown
Sheffield
322 West 57th Street
The 50-story, 845-unit rental building may be converted to condos. Swig Burris Equities and two joint venture partners, YL Real Estate Developers and S& Equities, closed on the purchase of the building last month for $418 million. However, the deal is capitalized at $545 million, including renovation costs – and said to be the largest sale of a residential building ever in the United States, the Daily News reported. Part of the financing includes a $108 million mezzanine loan by Vornado Realty Trust.