Check out Qi on the north side of 14th between 5th and 6th. It’s a Thai restaurant that comes with lots of philosophy about spiritual centeredness and such. You can eat, and you can enrich your spirit, or qi (pronounced “chee”). May be a little bit upscale for this block. We’ll see.
Comparing 3rd quarter 2007 to 3rd quarter 2008, real estate prices around here have actually done pretty well, according to the Times.
Neighborhoods that experienced price drops include the Lower East Side and the East Village, where median prices fell 5.5 percent; and Carnegie Hill, where co-op prices decreased 7.2 percent. Median prices in Hamilton Heights and Morningside Heights dropped 30 percent, with sales decreasing to only 19 from 67 in 2007. In Washington Heights, median prices went down 6.3 percent, but the number of sales increased to 24 from 18 in 2007.
The neighborhoods that fared the best through the third quarter included Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue from 59th to 96th Streets, where median prices went up 35 percent. In Lincoln Square, an area between 57th and 72nd Streets from Central Park West to the Hudson River that is home to high-priced apartments in 15 Central Park West and the Time Warner Center, median co-op prices went up 18.6 percent and median condo prices went up 25 percent. Prices also rose in Lenox Hill, where median co-op prices went up 19 percent; and Chelsea, where median co-op and condo prices went up about 6 percent.
Other neighborhoods that experienced increases include Greenwich Village, where median prices for co-ops went up 3.9 percent; Union Square and the Gramercy area, where co-op prices went up 3.3 percent and condo prices went up 2.6 percent; and the Upper East Side, where median co-op prices went up 2.3 percent and condo prices went up 9.1 percent.
What used to be the TD Bank at the corner of University and 11th will soon be a new outpost of the quickly expanding Blank Street Coffee Chain. OK, but isn’t better to support local businesses? Go to NewsBar instead.
Target Union Square has finally opened in the former Food Emporium location at Union Square East. At a time when Target is closing other stores partly in response to unprecedented theft, it will be interesting to see what safeguards they put in place in this new location.
A Greenwich Village parking garage at 12 E. 13th St. between University Place and Fifth Avenue will be transformed into eight large condominiums, in another sign of the city’s booming ultra-luxury market.
The building, which sold for $32 million in 2012, will feature eight apartments—a mix of full-floor units and duplexes—with expected asking prices range from $7.5 million to $28.5 million for the top triplex, according to the project’s developers. Occupancy is expected by the end of 2014.
The project is a joint development by DHA Capital LLC and Continental Properties.
The developers plan to add four more floors to the eight-story building, which was built in 1930. A portion of the rear will be demolished and replaced with the new stories, and it will also receive a new façade with elongated bricks to make the windows wider.
The 10th, 11th and 12th floors will make up one triplex, while all of the ninth and part of the eighth floor will make up a duplex with an asking price of $18 million. The building will be topped by a glass structure being added as part of the 6,000-square-foot triplex penthouse.
The building will feature a 24-hour concierge, an automated parking system, a small gym, individual storage space and street-level retail.
The building is currently undergoing demolition, and reconstruction work will begin in a month or two.
Steven Fisch of Continental Properties, a family business started by his father in 1957, said this was their first joint venture with DHA Capital LLC, and the two groups looked at other properties before deciding on this one.
“One major factor was the size of the block, the location obviously, and the ability to do something very special, to create almost a work of art with full-floor condos,” said Mr. Fisch. “It’s very hard to find a 67-foot-wide building.”
Mr. Fisch said the two groups decided to create an ultra-high-end luxury building rather than smaller, more affordable apartments because there has been very strong demand for this type of housing over the past five years, and a shortage of supply.
He said they also wanted to distinguish themselves from large buildings featuring 150 and 200 apartments.
“It is in a location, and a time in New York City, when this can happen,” said Mr. Fisch.
Richard Cantor, a principal at Cantor-Pecorella, is marketing the condos. Mr. Cantor said none had been sold yet, but the ultra high-end luxury residential market is very strong.
“There’s been a huge uptick in prices in the high end, it’s a very strong market,” said Mr. Cantor.
He said the building doesn’t have a “pretentious” name, and is just known by its address to keep it simple.
The last tenant at the 45,000-square-foot parking garage was Hertz Rental Car, which vacated once its lease expired.
How do you feel about all those artists who take up quite a bit of space selling their art at the southwest corner of Union Square Park. Here’s an article that says they may soon be squeezed into a smaller area:
The Parks Department claims the rules will decrease congestion, but critics accuse the city of pushing out independent street artists in order to replace them with more lucrative vendors.
The Parks Department declined to answer questions submitted by the NY Destinations Examiner .
A Parks Department spokesperson provided an email statement, much of which was excerpted from the Parks Department’s March 24 notice in The City Record .
” The dramatic increase in the number of expressive matter vendors on parkland has prompted the Parks Department to develop these rules in an effort to strike a balance between these vendors and other park users, and address other concerns related to maintaining and operating open space in an urban environment, ” reads the statement.
Next week (May 13 to May 17), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors inside the building. We will be working on the new sidewalks around the building and installing new curbs. Additionally we will be working on the roofs of the building.
The following week (May 20 to May 24), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors as well as sidewalk work.
This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, May 11th for interior, roof, and sidewalk activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City.