Rendering of proposed mixed-use building at 625 West 57th Street. Image Courtesy: Durst Development LLC.

99-year ground lease hinders owner’s ability to provide permanent affordable housing. Durst Development LLC proposed a mixed-use, Large-Scale General Development (LSGD) project on multiple lots in Manhattan adjacent to the Hudson River. The property block is bounded by West 57th and West 58th Streets, and 11th and 12th Avenues. The west side of the block is currently a vacant lot, while on the east side of the block is The Helena – a residential and retail building also owned by Durst – and a Manhattan Mini Storage. On the surrounding blocks are the former Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) Powerhouse to the north, now operating as a Con Edison steam station, and car dealerships and a City Department of Sanitation garage to the south. (more…)

Rendering of proposed mixed-use building at 625 West 57th Street. Image Courtesy: Durst Development LLC.

New development plan promises period of residential affordability, lively streetscape, and small public space in Manhattan. On December 19, 2012, the City Planning Commission approved Durst Development LLC’s mixed-use development project at 625 West 57th Street. A unique, pyramid-shaped, 35-story building between West 57th and 58th Streets will be the centerpiece of the project. The building will contain 753 rental units including 151 affordable units, ground floor retail space, and a 285-space accessory parking garage. The development project will also include a conversion of a Manhattan Mini Storage building at 600 West 58th Street to community facility, residential, or retail uses. Finally, an access drive will be built connecting West 57th and West 58th Streets to provide access to the new building’s parking garage and lobby. (See CityLand’s past coverage here).

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Rendering of Chelsea Market’s proposed Tenth Avenue addition. Courtesy of Jamestown Properties and Studios

Borough president and local community board oppose current plan to build additions to the eastern and western sides of block-long Chelsea Market. On July 25, 2012, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on Jamestown Properties’ expansion plan for Chelsea Market at 75 Ninth Avenue in Manhattan. The Market is a complex of 18 different buildings occupying the entire block bounded by West 14th and West 15th Streets and Ninth and Tenth Avenues and was formerly occupied by Nabisco. A portion of the High Line elevated park runs through the Market’s western edge on Tenth Avenue. The Market provides more than 1.1 million sq.ft. of space for food-related and non-food-related retail and wholesale businesses, along with media and technology companies.

Jamestown’s initial proposal included building a 240,000-square-foot, nine-story office addition on the Tenth Avenue side of the Market, and a 90,000-square-foot, 11-story hotel addition on the Ninth Avenue side of the Market. The nine-story addition on Tenth Avenue would increase the Market’s height from 84 feet to 226 feet. The 11-story addition on Ninth Avenue would increase the tallest portion of that side of the Market from 51 feet to 160 feet. Jamestown did not propose any new development for the mid-block.

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City can now negotiate to acquire northern section of High Line in order to complete 1.45-mile elevated park. On July 29, 2010, the City Council approved a proposal by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services and the Department of Parks and Recreation to acquire the remaining portion of the High Line elevated rail line and associated easements. This section, currently owned by CSX Corporation, begins at West 30th Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues and runs west before turning north and terminating at West 34th Street. It also includes the “spur,” which extends east off the main structure at West 30th Street and terminates above the intersection of Tenth Avenue and West 30th Street. The easements associated with the structure generally extend below and above the High Line and include property owned by the MTA and the Convention Center Development Corporation. (more…)

625-space garage had been operating over capacity since approximately 2003. On July 1, 2009, the City Planning Commission approved 111 Eighth Avenue Parking LLC’s application for a special permit allowing it to continue to operate a 625-space garage on the ground floor and cellar of an office building located between West 15th and 16th Streets, and Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Chelsea. The applicant began operating the 126,677 sq.ft. garage in 1999. It reached its current 625-space capacity a few years later, exceeding the 276 spaces permitted by the building’s Certificate of Occupancy.

At the Commission’s hearing, a representative for the garage apologized for its delay in rectifying the overcapacity, claiming that it had been unfamiliar with the application process for a special permit. Another representative stated that the garage had been consulting with the community and, based on community input, agreed to provide bicycle parking and storage at the garage. (more…)