We got a hint earlier this week that the hotel portion of the Related Companies' mixed-use hotel/rental tower at 440 West 42nd Street would be a Yotel, the first U.S. installment of the European pod hotel chain. The 669-room hotel does, indeed, appear to be happening as rumored. A tipster sends in the above shot with a note: "Looks like the Yotel design you posted for 440 W 42nd is accurate—the nauseating, foamy-looking hexagons have started going up. I can already envision that Yotel neon sign blaring 24 hours and doing to me what Kenny Roger's Roasters did to Kramer." The 170-square-foot rooms behind the foamy hexagons are supposed to be $200-$250 per night. And may be some of the few places in the neighborhood where those hexagons aren't visible, in which case, interesting marketing strategy! After the jump, a reminder of what the building has in mind.
The pieces keep getting added to the Related Companies' 60-story mixed-use tower now under construction at 42nd Street and Tenth Avenue, even if the developer is still playing coy about the building's final look. Already the future home of the Signature Theatre Company and its Frank Gehry-designed spaces, the hotel/rental tower is now filling in the blanks on the hotel part. The building will house a 669-room Yotel, the first U.S. property from the company that operates pod hotels near several European airports. Rooms will be a snug 170 square feet and cost between $200-$250 per night. The Rockwell Group and London's Softroom will design the Yotel New York, and a 2011 opening is expected. HotelChatter is all in a tizzy over the planned restaurant, spa, lounge and the "largest outdoor terrace space for an NYC hotel," and they also scored a rendering that features a heck of a lot of detail on the nearby Zebra Building, but still doesn't show much of the tower itself. The other Yotels look pretty crazy, but will Hell's Kitchen's Yotel be more happening than its gaytel?
· Yotel To Open Legit, Full-Service Hotel in Times Square in 2011 [HotelChatter]
· 440 West 42nd Street coverage [Curbed]
MIDTOWN—West 34th Street is always in need of cosmetic upgrades, and commercial megalandlord SL Green just announced it finished one at 333 West 34th Street, an office building the company purchased in 2007. The landlord enlarged and renovated the lobby and created a new 21,000-square-foot retail space, all through "recapturing cafeteria and other underutilized space." There's now an 18-foot-high glass wall wrapping the front of the building, the perfect sheltered and safe hangout to meet the guy you found on Craigslist to buy your Rangers tickets. [CurbedWire Inbox]
HELL'S KITCHEN—More proof from a tipster that Related's massive tower rising at 440 West 42nd Street will look like those leaked renderings: "I spoke to one of the construction guys and he told me the building would have two heights; the west side of the block would be 25 stories and the east side would be a whopping 60 stories tall. Holy moly, that's as big as the Silver Towers." True, but this one's all laid back about getting stoned and stuff. Awww yeah. [CurbedWire Inbox]
HELL'S KITCHEN—Did we speak too soon when we said Related's massive condo/rental tower at 440 West 42nd Street might end up matching the disavowed renderings of the project. A tipster writes: "I keeping a close eye on your coverage since that building's going to block my kick ass view. Attached is an aerial view of the construction. You can see it's not quite matching up to Related's 'leaked' plans." Still looks like the early stuff to us, with that setback above the stone-covered base. Are we seeing things? [CurbedWire Inbox]
HARLEM—Thanks to a wave of new development Frederick Douglass Boulevard has been called Harlem's Gold Coast, and every Gold Coast needs some fabulous, er, groceries. Enter the Best Yet Market, which one very enthusiastic tipster fills us in on: "You may want to check out the new Best Yet Market that opened Thursday afternoon on Fredrick Douglass and 118. Its a great grocery store and will mean all the folks in the new condos on Fred Douglass have a place to shop. Its large with 3 levels. Mezz level has coffee and desert bar with comfortable chairs and couches. It was already busy and folks are talking about it."
"On a 10 point scale, if Le Bon Marche in Paris is an 11, Whole Food Columbus Circle an 8.5, then this is a solid 7. Better than any Gristedes, C-Town in the city. Its better than the narrow and crowed Fairways which has good stuff but the crowds are a pain. It has a much bigger selection than Trader Joes - but more expensive. Price is the only draw back -- things were less expensive than Whole Paycheck but more expensive than Fairway or Trader Joes." [CurbedWire Inbox]
The Related Companies told us that leaked renderings of its 59-story tower at 440 West 42nd Street in Hell's Kitchen weren't accurate, but we're starting to doubt those claims. Cladding is now going up on the Arquitectonica- and SLCE-designed full-block tower (which will have condos and rentals) that matches those renderings. Slabs of sandstoney panels have been attached to the base along 41st and 42nd Streets, echoing the buff-toned brick seen across the street at the infamous Zebra Tower. Above the four-story base, where Frank Gehry is designing spaces for the Signature Theater Company, another seven stories have gone up. There's no glass up yet, so whether the neighborhood will get another tin-can special or something more interesting remains to be seen.
· Thread: 440 West 42nd Street at 10th Avenue [Wired New York]
· 440 West 42nd Street coverage [Curbed]
Now that the city and Related are best of friends (if you forget about that Kingsbridge Armory business), The Real Deal passes along word that our fearless leaders are chipping in $25 million for Related's long-awaited 440 West 42nd Street project. The former Hell's Kitchen Swimming Hole, to refresh your memory, will be a 59-story complex of affordable and market-rate housing as well as a Frank Gehry-designed theater. The residential stuff is supposed to be done in 2011, and the theater in 2012. [Real Deal]
FAR WEST SIDE—Delays may be piling up at the Second Avenue Subway, but the 7 train extension project just completed its first phase! The big scary tunnel boring machine has reached the southern wall of the 34th Street cavern (photos of the break-through above!), the city and MTA announced. Part of the plan to populate the Hudson Yards megaproject when it eventually gets built, the 7 train extension will put a new station at 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue. Finally, quick passage from Times Square to the Javits Center! Not that we, uh, frequent those places. [CurbedWire Inbox]
FAR WEST SIDE—Speaking of Hudson Yards, the City Council approved the rezoning of the western half of the 26-acre property, now that a deal is in place between the city and Hudson Yards developer Related to preserve and create affordable housing in the area. The affordable housing plan consists of nearly 1,300 units in a mix of on-site and off-site locations, including 431 new rentals in Hudson Yards "as initially permanently affordable to New Yorkers earning up to 60 percent Area Median Income (AMI), or what is equal to an annual income of $46,100 for a family of four." The city is tossing in $40 million to create affordable housing units at properties, one at West 48th Street and Tenth Avenue and the other at West 54th Street and Ninth Avenue. Between this news and 7 train news, we're revising our Hudson Yards completion estimate to...June 23rd, 2130. [CurbedWire Inbox]
WILLIAMSBURG/BED-STUY—The City Council wasn't just focused on Manhattan when it came to today's rezoning love. The ultra-controversialBroadway Triangle rezoning was also approved, setting the stage for thousands of new apartments (many of which will be affordable housing) and more civil war over who gets to live in them. [CurbedWire Inbox]
In-apartment smoking has been a feudingmatter for NYC residents for a while now, but landlords are finally getting in the game. The Times reports that Related, landlord at The Caledonia and other buildings, will ban smoking this month at some of its downtown properties because of secondhand smoke worries. Current residents can keep on smoking at home, but new renters who do so will face eviction. At new project 1510 Lexington smoking will be prohibited not only in all 298 units but also on the sidewalks surrounding the building. We're no Joe Camels, but how else are Caledonia residents supposed to deal with the stress of the local nightlife?
· New York's Smoking Ban Is Extending Into Some Apartments [NYT]
· Related Exec Fears 'Mayhem in the Streets' of Chelsea [Curbed]
The 440 West 42nd Street skyscraper from the Related Companies has started to sprout from what was, not so long ago, a rancid old swimming hole west of Times Square. The architects who are reportedly in charge, Arquitectonica, haven't shown us what will rise here and the folks at Related remain non-committal. But this full-block 59-story mixed-use development (which once hoped to house a theater for Cirque de Soleil) has been through so many changes that there's a veritable library of designs to look at. Those fanatics over at Wired New York have been following this one for years. They did the archiving; we present the design highlights in the handy gallery above.
What we think we know is that Frank Gehry is still in line to design a theater that'll be tucked inside (although, given the site parameters, it's unlikely we'll get another stackable playpen like the one Frank's crew has preliminarily proposed for downtown). DOB records show that there will be a number of "party rooms" inside, both down low and up on top, and that hotel rooms (37 per floor) will rise to the 23rd floor with apartments all the way up to 59. Now cranes are standing tall over 42nd Street, blocking the views from Manhattan Plaza across 42nd Street. Pumpers are spraying concrete all around the site and floors are rising. Pigeons, yearning for their old haunts, are keeping an eye on everything.
· 440 West 42nd Street coverage [Curbed]
· Thread: 440 West 42nd Street at 10th Avenue [Wired New York]
SO BRO—We had our fun with one ugly suburban-style big box mall today, but our friends at Streetsblog dropped us a line to chide us for missing their take on another piece of GreenbergFarrow magic, the Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal Market. Streetsblog refers to the place as a "pedestrian maul" and takes some shots at developer Related for making the place so pedestrian-unfriendly despite most customers taking public transportation to get there. But aren't those thousands of wasted parking spaces required by zoning? Mallrats, let us know. [Streetsblog]
GRAMERCYISH—Our fascination with all things McStarck leads us to reprint this tip regarding East 23rd Street's Gramercy by Starck: "340 East 23rd Street (Gramercy by Starck) is already undergoing window replacement this month, less than a year after opening. They currently have a large construction shed set up in front of the building." Well, as long as the delivery truck aren't a problem... [CurbedWire Inbox]
The West Village has a trove of townhouses of all types. They range from the humbly historic to the hiply histrionic, the monstrous to the magical, the cramped to the commodious, not to mention the troubled to the tasteful. The newest cache of single-family condos hugging the Hudson is the row of townhouses nearing completion on Bethune Street, a component of the Related Companies' Superior Ink development from starchitect Robert A. M. Stern. The exteriors, with dentil molding for days, are getting some tasteful iron rails along the windows, plus a load of other finishing touches both inside and out. It looks like two of the townhouses have been taken (one reportedly by Marc Jacobs), but two others are on the market and up for grabs, asking $13.25 million and $17.25 million.
· Superior Ink coverage [Curbed]
· Superior Ink Condominiums and Townhouses [somethingsuperior.com]
Feisty buyers at the Brompton, 170 East End Avenue, and the Rushmore have been suing developers to get out of their contracts as they've realized -- holy recession! -- that their brand spankin' new apartments aren't worth what they pledged to pay for them. Now the developers are trying to lure the buyers back with deals struck outside of court. At 170 East End Avenue, the Times hints, there was a "meeting of the minds" when hedge funder Arvind Sanger closed on his penthouse for only $11.98 million, after agreeing to pay $12.5 million back in the heady days of 2007. At the Brompton, buyers' lawyer Adam Leitman Bailey said some buyers have received concessions in exchange for keeping their contracts, though Related, the developer, denied it. Rushmore buyers are reportedly being offered discounts of up to 25 percent to hang onto their contracts. Ah, the sweet smell of developer desperation!
· Big Deal - A Weapon Called Fine Print [NYT]
· Rushmore buyers offered deals to stem mass defections [Real Deal]
Now that the city and Related are 
In-apartment smoking has been a 
Feisty buyers at the Brompton, 170 East End Avenue, and the Rushmore have been suing developers to get out of their contracts as they've realized -- holy recession! -- that their brand spankin' new apartments aren't worth what they pledged to pay for them. Now the developers are trying to