Manhattan developers struck back in April after a handful of slow months, dominating the list of the month’s largest development permit filings. Big-name players including L+M Development and Joseph Chetrit’s Chetrit Group made waves with major projects in the borough, as did smaller firms such as Sumaida + Khurana and Kenneth Horn’s Alchemy Properties.
On the whole though, developers in April continued their several-months-old pattern of slower, less intense filing activity. As in March, only half the projects on the list crossed 100,000 square feet, though two more just missed the mark, according to data from PropertyShark.
Half of April’s filings were for residential projects. A pair of hotels, a pair of school expansions and a single Brooklyn office project rounded out the list.
Ron Moelis and 23 Park Row in the Financial District before it was demolished
23 Park Row, Manhattan
L+M Development Partners, one of the city’s most prolific affordable developers, filed a permit application for a 59-story, 266,000-square-foot residential tower in the Financial District, which it’s building in partnership with Joe and Rachelle Friedman, the founders of J&R Music and Computer World. The building will hold 108 apartments, though it’s not yet clear whether the partners are planning condominiums or rental units. COOKFOX Architects is designing.
540 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
The Dushey family’s Jenel Management is planning a 19-story, 174,000-square-foot Downtown Brooklyn office building with three levels of retail space at the base. The retail-focused, Midtown-based developer, led by David Dushey, bought the property in 1981. It demolished the two-story, 26,000-square-foot retail building there last year. Marvel Architects is the project’s architect of record.
609 West 56th Street, Manhattan
Chelsea-based Sumaida + Khurana and LENY – based in Tel Aviv, Israel – are planning an 80-unit, 34-story, 123,000-square-foot condo tower in Hell’s Kitchen, with retail on the ground floor. The partners bought the site in Feb. 2015 for $55 million from developer and sometime-politician John Catsimatidis of Red Apple Group, along with the adjacent 823 11th Avenue.
From left: 245-247 West 34th Street and 261-263 West 34th Street in Chelsea (inset: Joseph Chetrit)
249-263 West 34th Street, Manhattan
Joseph Chetrit’s Chetrit Group filed a permit application for a 300-key, 33-story, 122,000-square-foot hotel with retail at the base near Penn Station in Midtown. The developer, in partnership with Shifra Hager’s Cornell Realty Management, acquired a handful of retail properties on the block late last year in a swap with investor Charles D. Cohen. Chetrit and Cornell ultimately dissolved their partnership and split the assemblage.
2002 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn
Midtown-based developer and real estate finance firm iStar is planning a 135-unit, 107,000-square-foot supportive housing building just off the Coney Island boardwalk. iStar leased the site – adjacent to the 5,000-seat amphitheater and restaurant the company is building at the Childs Restaurant in Coney Island – from the city’s Economic Development Corporation last year. The developer plans to build a total of 1 million square feet of housing in the area, according to its website.
A rendering of iStar’s planned amphitheatre at the Childs Restaurant on Coney Island
40-10 99th Street, Queens
The New York City School Construction Authority is planning a five-story, 96,000-square-foot expansion of P.S. 19 in North Corona, also known as the Marino P. Jeantet School. The new structure, which will sit just north of the school’s main academic building, will house administrative offices, cafeterias, a gymnasium and classrooms. Burnham & Buttrick Architects, based in Midtown, is the architect of record.
2251-2259 Broadway, Manhattan
The Carlyle Group and Kenneth Horn’s Alchemy Properties filed an application to build a 32-unit, 95,000-square-foot condominium building on the Upper West Side. The partners bought the site in February for $51 million. The new Goldstein, Hill & West-designed building will have retail at its base and a terrace on the roof.
1056 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn
Joseph Brunner and Abe Mandel’s Bruman Realty filed a permit application to build a seven-story, 74,000-square-foot residential building in Greenpoint. The property will contain 90 apartments, as well as a 12,300 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. Brunner bought the site in November for $18.5 million from J. Josephs & Sons. Karl Fischer is the architect of record on the project.
1056 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint
2760 Briggs Avenue, Bronx
The New York City School Construction Authority, in its second school renovation filing of the month, plans to add another five-story, 67,000-square-foot building at P.S. 46 Edgar Allen Poe branch in Fordham. The building will hold a 280-person auditorium, offices, and classrooms, as well as outdoor playground on the fourth floor. Mitchell Giurgola Architects of Hell’s Kitchen is designing the project.
38-15 9th Street, Queens
Crown Heights-based investment firm Brooklyn North Capital filed a permit application for a new 198-key Red Lion hotel in Long Island City, to open in 2019. The building is slated to stand 14 stories and span 61,000 square feet of space. Brooklyn North bought the four-parcel site in March for $4.7 million.