Tribeca's Independence Plaza North has been among the many bidders for the "next Stuy Town" title, but according to the state's Division of Housing and Community Renewal, it shouldn't get it. A bit of backstory: landlord Laurence Gluck pulled the 1,339-unit Independence Plaza North complex out of the Mitchell-Lama program in 2004 but continued receiving J-51 tax breaks for two years after that. Realizing this could end up causing rent problems, Gluck repaid two years of the tax breaks to the city, and the city retroactively agreed that he had stopped getting them in '04. Tenants sued, arguing that their rents just should have been stabilized all along, and the judge in the case asked for DHCR's opinion, the Times reports. DHCR's ruling was...not to make a ruling. The city runs the J-51 program, DHCR said, so if the city says Gluck stopped receiving J-51 benefits in 2004, '04 it was. The judge still has the final say, so this could all go the other way. But given what the rest of his day looks like, Gluck's probably happy for any positive vibes.
· Albany Sides with Independence Plaza in Rent Suit [NYT]
· Tribeca's Stuy Town Case Gets a Little Help From the Feds [Curbed]
SOHO—The streets of Soho have its many protectors, especially around Howard Street. Today's gripe from a Curbed reader has nothing to do with Canal Street spillover, and everything to do with ConEd's recent underground repairs: "Where can someone like me denounce this scarring crime on Crosby Street between Howard and Grand? It is ridiculous how ConEd just removes the cobble stone and replaces it with asphalt. How can they get away with this! This is ridiculous!" We thought chicks dig scars? [CurbedWire Inbox]
UWS—Anger seems to be a common thread running through the CurbedWire today, as another reader writes, "OK. SO THE 20TH FL PENTHOUSE IN THE 'HOUSE' PORTION OF 15 CPW IS FEATURED IN THE APRIL 2010 ISSUE OF ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST. WHY HAVEN'T YOU REPORTED THIS !!!!" We're sorry! Our only magazine subscription is to Cracked. The AD website still has the March issue stuff up, which happens to include a rather lovely 45th floor apartment somewhere on the Upper West Side. Anyone care to identify that one while yelling at us? [CurbedWire Inbox]
Pricespotter is Curbed's asking price guessing game. We provide you with some details and pictures from an apartment listing, and you take a crack at the price in the comments. Tomorrow we reveal the answer. And hey, no cheating!
What/Where: 3BR, 2.5BA condo on Prospect Park West between 9th and 10th Streets Square Feet: 1,800 Maintenance/CC: $507 The Skinny: There's a whole lotta green in this Park Slope unit. And we're not just talking about the paint colors! The apartment comes with a "semi-private" green roof deck, whatever that means, and park views. For the less environmentally preoccupied, there's also keyed elevator access. Plus, it's, uh, close to the F train. Okay, we're running out of steam, so we'll cut right to the question: how much?
Flushing's Sky View Parc may be coming out of the freezer, Crain's reports. That's right: the $1 billion mixed-use project with 1,100 luxury condos on top of a mall, with amenities like a putting green and tennis courts, is on the verge of handing off sales and leasing to Related. Three of six planned residential towers are almost done, with the first and second apparently partially sold. Does this mean the plan to take Flushing development upscale in the middle of a recession wasn't actually totally crazy? [Crain's; previously]
The scaffolding is coming down at 143 Spring Street, the 1818 Federal-era building taken over and extensively renovated by footwear company Crocs, and our history-loving homey Lost City has the pictures. The biggest change (other than the building going from selling BBQ to rubber sandals) is the re-bricked south wall, which Lost City thinks looks "a bit antiseptic, a tad too scrubbed clean. Is it me, or does that brick wall look like it could be on the side of a brand new condo in Queens?" Racked seems to agree, calling the botoxed beauty the "Nicole Kidman of Federal-era architecture." Ouch! Still looks better than what's going to be displayed on the inside, no?
Here's how the building looked back in the Tennessee Mountain days:
Giving this dude's downtown party central walk-up a run for its money is the basement condo at Tribeca's 109 Reade Street. A new lawsuit against the condo's owner, James McGown, charges that he turned the place into an "extreme party" zone, with "fire massages" and a stripper pole, the Post reports. Neighbors allege McGown and his tenant, Dimitri Dimoulakis, worked together to hold paid parties, charging $10 or $15 per person for one November party where "a woman [waved] a wand of fire over the bare back and legs of a man, who is lying down on what looks like a kitchen counter." Scandalous! An ACRIS search suggests McGown purchased the apartment for $1 million in 2006 and transferred the deed to his daughter in '07. Above the million dollar den of sin? A pediatrician's office.
· Condo dwellers claim neighbor's apartment is an 'extreme party spot': suit [NYP]
Celebrities just can't stop pretending to call this epic five-bedroom penthouse in Chelsea's 129 West 20th Street home! The listing doesn't shy away from blabbing, pointing out that the 4,500-square-foot duplex "has been featured in the motion picture Last Night starring Kiera Knightly and Eva Mendes and in an AT&T ad campaign featuring Mariah Carey as the resident." Does it need to rely on star power to sell? The jury is still out on that one. Don't get us wrong, we're enjoying the 25' ceilings, 2,000 square feet of private outdoor space and the second level that's "the perfect place to host a dinner party for 2 - 50 friends." It's just that this penthouse has been down this road before.
The place has been bouncing on and off the market since 2006, with a seesaw pricing pattern. It first asked $8 million, then eventually went down to $6.95 million, then back up to $8.25 million, down to $7.695 million, up yet again to a high-water mark of $8.5 million and now down yet again to $7.25 million. Adding to the schizophrenia, it's now with its fourth brokerage. So is the time finally right to sell, or should they just not even bother waking Mariah up to tell her she doesn't actually live there?
· Listing: 129 West 20th Street, #PHAB [Citi Habitats]
This morning brought the news that the city's getting control of Brooklyn Bridge Park. Now a press release from State Senator Daniel Squadron, who has been an outspoken opponent of using condos to finance the park, fills in more of the city's plans. No surprise, Squadron's still pretty opposed to creating new housing within the park's boundaries. He has veto rights over housing at the park's John Street site, and according to his press release, a new subcommittee "will conduct an open process to consider alternative financing mechanisms to housing in the park." But enough negativity! What does Squadron want to see happening at the park? A recreational bubble on Pier 5, an ice skating rink, rooftop tennis courts on the Maintenance and Operations Building, and a permanent floating pool. Good news for the thousands who spent the summer of 2007 waiting in line when the floating pool last passed by.
· For $55M, City Nabs Control of Delayed Brooklyn Bridge Park [Curbed]
We said last month that recent Hell's Kitchen Development Du JourGriffin Court would be launching sales on March 9, and a StreetEasy check reveals the building has indeed begun sales. Way to be on the ball! In fact, it looks like every apartment in the 95-unit two-building complex has been listed. The FXFowle-designed Griffin Court has quite the array of door prizes, like a free iPad or 42" flat-screen TV for buyers and their brokers who sign contracts by the end of March, and developer-paid transfer taxes and Mansion Tax for the first 15 buyers. But exactly how much change do buyers need to fork over to get those goodies? Prices range from $735,000 for a 636-square-foot studio to $3,860,000 for a 1,829-square-foot three-bedroom. Some units come with private rooftop cabanas, like the $1.95 million #2M. Hey, as long as the free iPads work up there!
For the Downtowners that have begrudgingly accepted the Tower o' Garbage as fait accompli, the one upside frequently mentioned is, hey, at least the Sanitation Department will get off the Gansevoort Peninsula, freeing up the land to be absorbed into Hudson River Park! Er, not so fast. DNAinfo reports that the the city is moving ahead with a $10.5 million "recyclables transfer facility and environmental center" on the Gansevoort Peninsula, reviving a controversy of old. So it's garbage trucks for Hudson Square and recyclables for the Meatpacking District. On your guard, West Village! [DNAinfo]
With a foreclosure spat leading to a halt in sales at One Madison Park, the Observer's Dana Rubinstein uses the time-out to recap the 60-story condo tower's tumultuous history up this point—including the lawsuits that now number in the double digits, and the latest shenanigans: Developer feuding! Marc Jacobs (not the designer) is accusing his Slazer Enterprises partner Ira Shapiro of fraudulently using his signature in more than 18 instances on promissory notes and other documents related to One Madison Park. Nasty stuff, and a new twist in the saga that will one day make a pretty decent screenplay. Rubinstein thinks it's a tale of inexperienced developers getting in way over their heads, two buddies wanting to make their names in the Big City who might now get shown the exit by their backers. But hey, it could've been worse. For us, that is:
In the end, it doesn’t matter to anyone outside of the mess who owns the development. Or who owns the otherworldly condos inside, second homes for those with too much money to spend.
What does matter is that a 60-story tower has been built on the south side of Madison Square Park, and will, in perpetuity, reside there, and surely outlive those involved in its creation, including the young men from Rockland County, and those millions of New Yorkers who move beneath its shadow.
The Upper West Side's glassy newcomer at Broadway and 72nd Street, a luxury rental building dubbed 200 West, has dropped its construction shed and fully launched its website, showing off all sorts of goodies. Immediately we're drawn to that rooftop terrace, with major views, an open-air fireplace (perfect for cooking up some dogs and saving a trip to Gray's Papaya across the street) and a 12' misting wall and adjacent wet bar for keeping things cool. Along West 72nd Street is the lobby, "a sequence of three distinct spaces" and the way into the rental units at The Corner, as the gang at the Gotham Organization calls it. The foyer is topped by a ginormous chandelier with, count 'em, 1,750 LED-lit crystals. Further inside is reception, all brown and beige with travertine floors and limestone walls, plus a 15' bronze wall. That leads to the "glass corridor" that shuffles to the elevators, and up to a plethora of floorplan options given variety by the building's obtuse angle and wicked overhang.
The building also has a second website set up to lure additional retail clients. Already Trader Joe's has laid claim to over 20,000 square feet, most of it safely situated deep underground (the opening is now scheduled for autumn). If cash is crucial there'll be a Bank of America filling up the broad curve of The Corner window and taking up nearly half the ground floor. The full second floor with adjoining mezzanine is still up for grabs, and anyone looking to have their name up in lights over Broadway might want to take a look.
As for rents on the apartments in the Handel Architects-designed building, the kind lady that picked up the phone in The Corner office told us that the official grand opening is Monday, and interested renters can right this very second schedule an appointment to hear the full spiel. In other words, they're not saying. At least not yet. But one thing we know: Chandeliers of insanity and freaky glass chambers don't come cheap.
· The Corner - 200 West [200west72.com]
· 200 West coverage [Curbed]
For every preservation opponent, there is an equally ardent preservation defender—in Victorian Flatbush. The Daily News reports that Victorian Flatbush residents are feeling a little left out after a recent Landmarks Preservation Commission emphasis on expanding historic districts in brownstone neighborhoods. Even Borough President Marty Markowitz is getting in on the controversy, telling the LPC in a letter that "it is not appropriate public policy to place [Victorian Flatbush] on hold while purely Brownstone Brooklyn is pursued." Ruh-roh. [NYDN]
[David Childs and an Atlantic Yards site plan circa '07.]
The Nets are hopeless, so developer Bruce Ratner is reportedly looking at other ways to infuse his controversial Brooklyn megaproject with talent. Bring on the starchitects! There are 16 residential high-rises that are still part (in theory) of Atlantic Yards, with construction on the first—for which no design has been revealed—slated to begin next spring. Ratner already sacked the biggest name of them all, so who's he looking at now? Here's one: Freedom Tower—pardon, 1 World Trade Center—designer David Childs, who told the Brooklyn Paper that he has discussed working on one of the Atlantic Yards towers with Ratner. And then Childs went and did it: He got our hopes up!
Childs added: "Bruce wants to bring in different architects, good architects, to do each of the residential buildings. That’s something I'd be very excited about. Talking to Bruce, it’s clear that he wants to do this right. He really does." If you say so, buddy. Frank Gehry was tossed off the project in a cost-cutting move, so it's unclear how much Ratner is really willing to spend to import some flashy names. Another potential candidate is Childs's SOM colleague Roger Duffy, who designed Downtown Brooklyn conversation starter Toren. A zebra building for every Brooklyn 'hood, we say!
· 'Childs' play: Bruce may be bringing in top architects to work on Yards [Brooklyn Paper]
· Atlantic Yards coverage [Curbed]
Our tipline has been abuzz this morning with rumors that all tenants were evacuated yesterday from rental building 1182 Broadway. We checked with the Department of Buildings—which has one "work without permit" violation posted for the property—to get the full story. And that is? A DOB spokesperson tells us the agency investigated after anonymous complaints and found that the property was illegally converted from a 16-floor manufacturing building into residential apartments. The building had no fire sprinklers, no secondary exit, and only one stairwell, which could trap tenants in the building in the event of a fire, so the DOB slapped owner Mocal Enterprises with violations for converting the building without a permit and for occupancy contrary to DOB regulations. According to DOB, tenants were evacuated with the aid of city agencies and the Red Cross. So who called in the complaint? That's the big question. The grungy neighborhood (WhoDi to us) has been branded the "next big thing" thanks to a crop of new luxury boutique hotels opening in the area. The hipsterest of them all, the Ace Hotel, is right next door.
We hunted up a few old listings for the building, where rents appear to have ranged from $2,900 to $6,000. According to one description, here's what that money would have gotten you:
Zoned as a live-work space, this renovated loft offers an industrial vision of New York that is fast disappearing...Featuring free laundry on every floor and bathrooms big enough to fit a mini-Cooper in, these apartments also offer massive closets and giant pewter windows. If you are looking for Zen gardens and tenant lounges then this building is not for you. But if a taste of raw space - think concrete floors in some units and spectacular wrap around antique windows in the two-bedroom units - makes your artistic juices start to flow, then this might do the trick.
And if DOB inspections and evictions make your artistic juices start to flow, then you're really in luck!
UPDATE: We just received this statement from building administrator Dana Haddad: "As an accommodation, we will be providing alternate housing to each of our 54 tenants and their families in the upcoming two days as we work around the clock with the Department of Buildings and our tenants to resolve this unfortunate situation."
· Description: 1182 Broadway [TREGNY]
In a particularly scoop-filled Between the Bricks column (Vornado to buy landmarked 510 Fifth! Urban Outfitters backed out of a deal for the UWS's Metro Theater!), the Post's Lois Weiss dishes on Extell's purchase of the Helmsley Carlton House at 680 Madison Avenue. According to a source, the developer does indeed want to turn the 16-story hotel into a residential building, and a co-op conversion might be the easiest route because the building is on a land lease (albeit one with 150 years left). In the meantime, the retail space is in for a makeover. New storefront action will be created by moving the hotel lobby and combining space on the second floor and lower level into the retail fold—all subject to Landmarks Preservation Commission approval. World's fanciest Duane Reade, perhaps?
· Vornado Wants 510 Fifth [NYP]
· Developer Buys Helmsley Gem [Curbed]
After a protracted squabble, state officials have agreed to hand over control of Brooklyn Bridge Park to the city in the hope of finally getting it done. The joint state-city Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation is set to approve the handoff today, the Times reports. So what does the city have to give in exchange for control of the park? A cash injection of $55 million (of a total park tab of $350 million), which will kick off work on the park's sporty Pier 2. Of course, the city will also have to come up with a way to finance the park long-term. That could mean 1,200 condos.
· New York City to Take Over Brooklyn Bridge Park Project [NYT]
· Brooklyn Bridge Park coverage [Curbed]
Now that the city's takeover of Brooklyn Bridge Park is complete, the next step is tearing Governors Island out of the state's death grip, a process that is going well, the Post reports. Mayor Bloomberg says $30 million earmarked for stalled Javits Center expansion could give the Governors Island parkstravaganza a boost, and he "optimistic" a deal will happen soon. Meanwhile, the city is setting Brooklyn Bridge Park curfew at 1 a.m., according to the Daily News. And no necking! [NYP; NYDN]
Tribeca's Independence Plaza North has been among the many bidders for the "next Stuy Town" title, but according to the state's Division of Housing and Community Renewal, it shouldn't get it. A bit of backstory: landlord Laurence Gluck pulled the 1,339-unit Independence Plaza North complex out of the Mitchell-Lama program in 2004 but continued receiving J-51 tax breaks for two years after that. Realizing this could end up causing rent problems, Gluck repaid two years of the tax breaks to the city, and the city retroactively agreed that he had stopped getting them in '04. Tenants sued, arguing that their rents just should have been stabilized all along, and the judge in the case asked for DHCR's opinion, the 
Giving 
This morning brought the 
For the Downtowners that have begrudgingly accepted the 
With a foreclosure spat leading to a 
Our tipline has been abuzz this morning with rumors that all tenants were evacuated yesterday from rental building 1182 Broadway. We checked with the Department of Buildings—which has one "work without permit" 
In a particularly scoop-filled 
