PetCo —> Uniqlo
What used to be PetCo at the northwest corner of Union Square will soon become Uniqlo.
The team behind the world-famous Union Square Greenmarket, GrowNYC, just launched Project Farmhouse, an event space and sustainability center that hosts workshops, galas, speakers, community meetings and interactive exhibits. The new space is located on 13th Street, on the ground floor of the Hyatt Union Square.
The curved dome atop 44 Union Square, the former headquarters of Tammany Hall, is structurally completed and the geometric glass panels that enclose the lattice frame are beginning to be installed. The renovation is designed by BKSK Architects and developed by Edifice Real Estate Partners. CNY Group is in charge of construction on the historic, 90-year-old landmarked structure, which is being expanded to 70,348 square feet. Two new floors will be housed beneath the dome and receive abundant natural daylight.
Extell Development is in talks to buy a Greenwich Village commercial property with substantial development rights from the Duell family, the latest of several deals between the two. Gary Barnett’s firm is looking to acquire 530 Sixth Avenue on the corner of West 14th Street in Greenwich Village, Crain’s reported, citing a source familiar with the deal. The site is currently home to a 17,000-square-foot commercial building housing a Moscot Eyewear store, but public records show it has nearly 127,000 square feet of residential air rights.
Extell and the Duells have struck a number of deals in the past two months. In December, Barnett’s company bought two apartment buildings at 116 Seventh Avenue and 204 West 17th Street in Chelsea from the Duells, paying $11 million. He also bought 502 Third Avenue, a rental and retail building in Murray Hill, from the family for $11 million around the same time. Barnett also seems to be the buyer in the $20 million purchase of a rental building at 27 Washington Square North in the Greenwich Village last month, according to Crain’s. At the time of the purchase, the buyer wasn’t known. [Crain’s] – Ariel Stulberg
Pinkberry and Red Mango are going at it just one block west. The Villager has all the details.
Have you tried Union Fare yet? From the Times:
First came a cafe that becomes a wine bar in the evening. Stage 2 of this sprawling complex in part of the original Barnes & Noble bookstore is a restaurant. A very long bar opposite high-top tables leads to a dining room that is a study in recycling, decorated in reclaimed wood, with chairs strapped in rubber from discarded tires. There’s a raw bar and a charcuterie station. The chef, Yvan Lemoine, focuses on seasonal American fare. At his side, and supplying the cafe with baked goods, is Thiago Silva. His bakery will be in a food market, opening later, with pizza, burgers, salads, poké and Peruvian rotisserie chicken. 6 East 18th Street, 212-633-6003, unionfare.com.
Click here to see drawings of how the new traffic flow around Union Square will affect your daily walk. They are huge changes.