Site K will be home to a massive residential tower.
You’ll be forgiven if you missed this on Thursday, given the major news coming out of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office — the mayor’s former top aide turned herself in, and the man accused of killing the United Healthcare CEO was charged with murder.
That same day, the state announced that it had selected a winning team to develop 418 11th Avenue, also known as Site K. The joint venture consists of BXP (formerly known as Boston Properties), Moinian Group, BRP Companies and the Urbane Group. The plan is to build 1,349 residential units, of which 404 will be affordable, and a 455-key hotel.
This project is notable for a number of reasons:
- It’s big! It would be the first to take advantage of the state’s lifting the floor area ratio cap on residential buildings in the city.
- The Hochul administration had jettisoned former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s RFP for the site, which called for a mixed-use project with an option for housing. Hochul’s RFP mandated housing and prohibited office space.
- The site is right next to 3 Hudson Boulevard, owned by Moinian and BXP. A 2 million square-foot office tower is planned there, but the owners have not found an anchor tenant. Now Moinian and BXP don't have to worry about having a competitor at Site K.
- Developer Don Peebles had gone public with a vision for Site K dubbed Affirmation Tower. Many media outlets reported on the plan, which was amended after the new RFP was issued, but the publicity campaign around the proposal did not win over state officials.
- The project is across from the Javits Convention Center. The hope is that the new hotel will suit convention-goers.
- The project’s affordability levels were modeled after the 485x requirements. Of the 30 percent of units that will be offered at below-market rents, 25 percent will be affordable to those earning, on average, 60 percent of the area media income, while the remaining 5 percent will be for those earning up to 130 percent of the AMI.
Before construction can begin, the project proposal must go through a state review process known as a general project plan, which typically takes 18 to 24 months. So, we are a long way away from seeing this housing, but Thursday marked an important step.
What we’re thinking about: What do you make of the allegations in the indictment against Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Glenn Martin II, and real estate investors Mayank Dwivedi and Raizada Vaid? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: Department store Printemps in Paris is the first department store in Europe to accept cryptocurrencies, according to WWD. Thank you to Alexis Manrodt for passing this along!
Elsewhere in New York…
— Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law on Friday that will require any state agency that collects demographic data to recognize people of North African and Middle Eastern descent, Gothamist reports. The measure ends the state’s practice of classifying this population as white.
— Traffic near Albany was disrupted on Friday when a small plane landed on the New York State Thruway, NBC New York reports. The plane was experiencing some kind of engine issue leading up to the emergency landing near Exit 23.
— Mayor Eric Adams’ priorities in Albany heading into the next legislative session include one proposal to cut personal income taxes for low-income New Yorkers and another to make it easier to involuntarily hospitalize people experiencing mental health crises, City & State reports. The legal troubles surrounding his administration could hurt his standing in negotiations.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Friday was $19.9 million for a condo unit at 760 Madison Avenue. The 4,500-square-foot apartment in Lenox Hill is a new construction unit and sold at a slight discount from its asking price of $21.5 million. Douglas Elliman’s Sabrina Saltiel and Madeline Hult Elghanayan had the listing.
Commercial: The largest commercial sale of the day was $57.8 million for 653 11th Avenue, the Ink48 Hotel in Hell’s Kitchen. Brookfield Property Partners sold the property for 25 percent less than it paid in 2019. The buyer was Leyad and Capstone Equities.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $22 million for 319-321 West 74th Street on the Upper West Side. The brownstone is 60 feet wide and 85 feet deep. Compass’ Karen Kelley Team has the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was for a 27,917-square-foot building at 78 Commercial Street. The Brooklyn project will be three stories. Wayne Norbeck of DXA Studio Architecture filed the application.
— Joseph Jungermann