Vintage Photo

With rooms starting at $529 (rack rate), you probably can’t afford to stay at the new Hyatt Union Square when it opens, but perhaps you can check out one of its restaurants or bars:

THE FOURTH: The Fourth, an all-day American Brasserie serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and weekend brunch provides straightforward high-quality items with surprising accents. A chic European style espresso bar, located at its entrance, will offer a comfortable casual place to enjoy our signature coffee – Café Quatrième – pastries and nibbles. Soaring ceilings and wide open-air French doors allow streams of light to fill the room.

SINGL LOUNGE: A full service bar and lounge featuring an extensive single malt scotch selection and single vineyard wine by the glass selection. An exciting place to gather during the day and evening.

KITCHEN AND WINE GALLERY: A vibrant venue for your next gathering. This versatile space features an open kitchen and hearth connecting you and your guests to our team of chefs. This venue features a New York approach to South American Dining combining progressive Latin sounds with warm succulent scents. Glowing wine displays and decanting stations will enhance the beverage aspect of your experience. Cutting edge art throughout the space reflects the art scene of Greenwich Village and Union Square.

Mexicana Mama, the intimate Mexican joint on East 12th St., has shuttered.

From the Union Square Partnership:

Union Square Partnership invites you to share your opinion about our work in our 2023 Annual Community Opinion Survey. Your feedback helps us better understand our community’s priorities and perceptions of the Union Square-14th Street neighborhood and plan for future projects. The survey will be open until 5:00 PM on Thursday, August 24th, 2023. It takes about 10 minutes.

Survey participants will be entered for a chance to win one of six (6) $50 gift certificates from one of the following neighborhood businesses: 

• Books of Wonder
• Café Salmagundi
• Caffè Panna
• Fishs Eddy
• Sweet Chick
• Urbanspace Union Square Food Hall

The Survey is Here:  https://www.unionsquarenyc.org/2023-community-survey. 

Thank you for your participation! Your feedback is invaluable.

Sincerely,

Union Square Partnership Team

NEW YORK CITY-DHA Capital LLC and its co-development partner Continental Properties have purchased 12 E. 13th St. in Manhattan. The property was sold for $32 million, or more than $700 per square foot. ABS Partners represented the sellers.

Hertz Rental Car previously occupied the ground floor while the remainder of the building, which spans 45,032 square feet of space, was being used as a parking garage. The new owners plan to turn the structure into upscale condominiums and will likely create a mix of full-floor homes and duplexes, along with retail facilities, according to a release.

“This is a highly desirable location where we intend to create large, super-luxury homes which will appeal to discriminating buyers,” says Steven Fisch, managing partner at Continental Properties, in the release.

”These types of homes are in very strong demand but short supply, particularly downtown,” adds Dan Hollander, managing principal of DHA. The team has engaged Cetra/Ruddy architects to design the conversion, which will not enlarge the building but will add several stories by demolishing part of the rear portion.

Located on the southern side of East 13th Street, between University Place and Fifth Avenue, the property is close to Union Square. A similar building that was a parking garage at 66 East 11th Street was recently converted into a residential building offering luxury condos.

Odell Real Estate represented the buyer. Hertz had vacated the building as its lease expired this past fall. The move allowed the building to be sold vacant, eliminating the uncertainty of a holdover tenant for potential buyers.

Constructed in 1930 of brick, steel, and concrete, the building was most likely used as a horse stable in addition to a parking garage for cars, as evidenced by heating coils throughout the building, according to ABS director Adam Maxson in a separate release. The building also features two large car elevators.

Recent construction activity in the Greenwich Village area helped create a strong demand for the building from a wide range of buyers that included both small local investors and large international investment groups, Maxson says in the release. The New School is currently constructing a 375,000-square-foot building just across the street and is scheduled to open in the fall of 2013. Also, a high-end 113-room boutique hotel, the Jade Hotel, is being built on West 13th Street.

The seller was very happy with the purchase price, according to a press release issued by ABS. “The ABS team performed a stellar job navigating this complex transaction from start to finish,” says Darren Postel, one of the sellers, in the release. “ABS coordinated with a broad range of buyers to get this disposition executed. I could not be happier with the resulting sale at such an impressive number.”

This is the latest in a series of deals for DHA Capital. The firm is in pre-development of a 300-unit rental property on Manhattan’s West Side. At 53 Pitt St. in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, DHA created and is now marketing 14 rental lofts. In Brooklyn, DHA purchased a 200,000-square-foot development site at 88 Richardson St. The property, which was approved for 230 rental units, was sold by DHA in July of 2012. The firm also acquired and sold a stalled luxury co-op in Harlem for repositioning as a rental.

At the spot on University Place near 11th St. that was long home to Patsy’s Pizza and more recently to the ill-fated Lucky Louie’s, we now find a new branch of the delicious Maman Bakery. Many French-style treats to be had.

maman (mamannyc.com)

The Center for Jewish Society, at 15 East 16th St., will be presenting a very special exhibit, beginning on January 27th.

For the first time in history, the Anne Frank House will present a pioneering experience outside of Amsterdam to immerse visitors in a full-scale recreation of the Annex, where Anne Frank, her parents and sister, and four other Jewish inhabitants spent two years hiding to evade Nazi capture.

Anne Frank The Exhibition gives visitors of all ages the chance to learn about Anne Frank, not as a victim but through the multifaceted lens of her life—as a girl, a writer, and a symbol of resilience and strength. More than 100 original collection items from the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, including several never-before-exhibited artifacts, help to convey the context that shaped Anne’s life, death and posthumous fame. Her diary is one of the most translated books in the world.

Order tickets here.