A mock up of the timeshare backyard (courtesy of the Participation Agency) and the lot exterior inset (credit: PropertyShark)
With its rich tradition of overcrowded tenement houses, narrow streets and unpleasant summer stenches, the Lower East Side is at the bottom of possible summer getaway destination for Manhattanites. But Gothamist reported that the Participation Agency intends to change that reputation with its plans for the empty lot at 145 Ludlow Street.
The lot, which is 3,266 square feet, according to PropertyShark.com, will be transformed into a “timeshare backyard” starting next Thursday. Renters can pay $50 per hour for up to 30 friends to hang out in the soon-to-be grassy space and can rent a host of add-ons like Slip ‘n’ Slides, kiddie pools, kegs, grills and meat, beer pong tables and even live bands (which start at $5,000).
The lot belongs to a firm called Ludlow Place Corp., which bought the site for $2 million in 2004 and has plans to erect a building with 10,000 square feet of apartments and 3,000 square feet of commercial space.
In the meantime, Ludlow Place rented the lot out to the Participation Agency for $12,000 per month, according to the Wall Street Journal. And for a few hundred bucks, a summer stuck in the city can become an afternoon of suburban paradise. Renderings of the space (see photo) even include a white picket fence. [Gothamist]