Reports are in about how 13th St. and 14th St. may change when the L train shuts down for 15 months. Some amazing details, most notably the creation of the city’s first protected two-way bike lane running the entire length of 13th St. Hard to imagine what it will be like in reality.
Please be advised that curbside composting began on October 6, 2024. The program is mandatory and requires buildings to separate food and yard waste from other trash and recycling items. However, there is a grace period until April 2025 to allow buildings to implement the proper procedures and get everything in order.
Please see the attached DSNY flyer detailing acceptable materials for the composting bin. Additional guidance and recommendations include:
As a reminder, plastic, cardboard, metal, and glass should be recycled separately and not placed in the composting bin. Regular trash items including Styrofoam, pet waste, or diapers must not be thrown into the composting bin.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me or Mecca at 212-986-0001 or via email at TCunningham@akam.com or MWhite@akam.com.
Thank you.
Demolition of the building which a PC Richard & Son store occupied at 124 E. 14th St. will begin immediately followed by construction of a 21-story, mixed-use office building that will house the new Union Square tech hub. Suffolk Construction will be the project’s general contractor.
RAL Development Services in a joint venture with Junius Real Estate Partners closed a $120 million construction loan from Bank OZK. Junius is a real estate investment unit of J.P. Morgan Private Bank, a division of J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Its focus is high yielding real estate equity and debt investments.
The developers also signed a 99-year ground lease with the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The New York Post reported the joint venture has agreed to the following arrangements: It made an up-front payment of $5 million and will not pay rent for the first three years during construction and lease-up. Afterwards the annual base rent will be $2.3 million for the first five years. The rent will then increase by 2% every year through the 30th year. Following this period, the rent will be subject to fair market resets. A spokesperson for RAL confirmed these financing terms with GlobeSt.com.
Last year, the city council approved the tech hub following New York City’s ULURP process. The steps were required to increase the as-of-right building height from 14 floors to 21 stories.
For 25 years, RAL will lease six of the floors to the non-profit Civic Hall, which will create a digital training center, a tech incubator, co-working spaces, event spaces and an urban food hall. RAL will lease the top 14 floors of the 21-story building at market rate. According to the RFP issued by NYCEDC, the tech hub is expected to create over 500 jobs in Union Square.
Josh Wein, financial director of RAL, says, “In addition to the multitude of benefits this development provides for the City and its workforce, which have been designed to promote job creation and growth in the technology sector, we’ll be creating the finest modern office building in Midtown South.”
Community groups including the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (now named Village Preservation) advocated for neighborhood protections to accompany approval of the tech hub. They supported the educational and public goals of the project but protested its development without inclusion of rezoning for surrounding neighborhood streets. They requested limited heights for new developments, removal of current incentives for hotel and dorm development, and the inclusion of affordable housing with new construction for a limited area around the center.
The neighborhood organizations expressed they were concerned about an eventual destruction of the unique character the Village—starting with its now being referred to as Midtown South.
Next week (January 9 to January 13), Superstructure work will continue at and 2nd , 3rd and 4th floor levels. The sidewalk shed along 14th Street has been opened and we will begin working on the side walk shed along 5th ave.
The following week (January 16 to January 20), we will continue superstructure concrete and slabs on 2nd , 3rd and 4th floor levels. The weekend of Saturday 1/14/12 we will be installing a new crane that will service the site for the duration of the job.
This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, January 7th, for superstructure related activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City. To control noise levels within the site, work activities will be limited to the placement of formwork and concrete, plumbing and electrical work, rebar for concrete placement, using the crane and equipment to support all activities. Safety horns are used, and required by law, to coordinate lifting with the crane and to alert the workers of the danger overhead. We have directed the operators to limit the use of horns to one short sounding and to use the crane later in the day so as to avoid any excess noise.
At long last, L.A. Burdick Chocolate is returning to the City they love! In late October, L.A. Burdick Café (5 East 20th Street, 212 796-0143) opened featuring their award winning hot chocolate and renowned chocolate mice and bonbons. The café is open seven days a week serving hot and cold drinks, homemade pastries and a full selection of chocolates.
Looks like Izu/Lemongrass Grill is done. In its place will be Shanghai Square. No details yet. Stay tuned.
Next week (November 25th to November 29th ), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on the academic floors inside the building.
The following week (December 2nd to December 6th), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on academic floors
This weekend the site will be open on Saturday and Sunday, November 23rd and 24th for interior activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City.