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.
From the NY TIMES:
As bikes abound and roads grow narrower, New York can seem to be turning its back on cars. The rapid disappearance of gas stations may not be helping things either.
Parking garages are befalling similar fates, which may not be that surprising: Often humdrum, and built for function, they rarely seem to be the focus of preservation efforts, and developers have long eyed their sites for their potential.
But in Greenwich Village, two garages are being incorporated into condo developments, at 12 East 13th Street, with eight units, and 17 East 12th Street, with nine.
On East 13th, near Fifth Avenue, DHA Capital and Continental Properties are at work on a garage once used mainly by Hertz, the rental car company, which also had a ground-floor office. With eight floors, the garage was built in 1930, before modern zoning laws were imposed on the low-slung area, limiting height.
Indeed, had the developers torn down the garage and built new, it is doubtful that a new structure could have been as bulky as what is there now, which meant converting was a better option, said Dan Hollander, DHA’s managing principal.
Still, the developers could shift some things around; by shaving off the back of the building and adding that mass to the top, they were able to boost the height to 12 stories.
Other alternations are needed. The windows were not big enough for residential use, so they are being enlarged, as the building also gains a new facade, Mr. Hollander said. But starting with a foundation and walls cut some construction costs on the $75 million project, he added; similarly, the condo will take less time to complete, about 16 months, versus 24 months for ground-up construction.
DHA is also keeping a parking area, but for 11 cars, not 100 as before, and just on the second floor. Residents will drive into the original bay, then a robotic lift will pick up the vehicle and stow it.
Starting at $7.5 million for a three-bedroom, the units went on sale in April, although no contracts had been signed by late June.
An almost identical game plan is being followed on East 12th Street, where Rigby Asset Management is removing walls and floors from the back of the eight-story building to allow it to grow to 11 stories, giving apartments more light and air. There, too, a floor will be kept for parking, on the ground floor, for nine cars; and the same automated apparatus as at East 13th Street will serve as attendant. The nine condos, most of which have four bedrooms, are much pricier, however, starting at $14 million. Sales began at the end of June.
“You get column-free space and tall ceilings,” said Peter Armstrong, Rigby’s managing partner, who previously converted a garage at 73 Wooster Street into a six-unit condo. “You feel like an artist with a blank canvas.”
Union Square will host its first-ever Night Market by Urbanspace. Union Square is no stranger to Urbanspace, as the company is responsible for putting on the park’s beloved annual Holiday Market. However, this will be the first time Urbanspace will operate an open-air food market during summer nights.
The Union Square Night Market will run for four Thursdays, starting July 11th. More than 20 vendors will come together to bring New Yorkers some of the best bites in the city. It will all take place along the South Plaza of Union Square Park.
So whether you’re interested in grabbing something to eat on your summer commute home or planning a date night, the Union Square Night Market will serve as the perfect venue for either!
Here’s a guide from the Union Square Partnership.
We may or may not technically live in Greenwich Village, but here are some fun stats anyway:
Though it’s known as a hotbed of diversity, Greenwich Village is really quite homogeneous according to a new New York University-commissioned study by Appleseed, an economic analysis firm. Some highlights from The Economy of Greenwich Village: A Profile:
** The population of the Village last year was 72,025, virtually unchanged since 1990.
** Children under 18 comprise only 9.2 percent of the population, compared to almost 23 percent citywide. But between 2000 and 2009, the number of children under age 5 grew by 48 percent.
** Working age people (25-64 years) account for 69 percent of the Village population.
** Almost 80 percent of Village residents are white folks, 9.3 percent Asian, 6.2 percent Latino, 3 percent mixed race and 2.2 percent black.
** Village people have a median household income of just over $100,000 a year, more than double that of the rest of the city.
** 82.4 percent of Village residents have college degrees, beating even Cambridge (71.4 percent) and Palo Alto (78.7 percent).
** Ten percent of Village peeps work in the arts, recreation and hospitality industries compared to a whopping 18 percent in finance, insurance and real estate.
** Universities and colleges employ 10,350 people in the Village and their plans to expand are expected to stimulate growth in the local economy.
The popular 16th St. eatery is done.