Bike Lane Stunner

65 University Place, between East 10th and 11th Streets, is very much on the rise, with its pricey 28 residential units above. The project represents Indian-based developer Bsafal’s first foray into the United States. The firm, in partnership with Argo Real Estate, purchased the site for $30 million in July 2019 and in February 2021, demolition permits were filed to take down the nondescript four-story commercial building at 64-66 University Place. While the offices on upper floors were long vacant, the ground-floor retail tenant, gourmet grocer Agata & Valentina, had announced plans to close following a dramatic rent increase at the end of 2019.

While designer Kohn Pedersen Fox‘s New York City portfolio includes such skyscrapers as Two Waterline Square and 111 Murray Street, the new building is rising to a more moderate scale of 125 feet high. Renderings depict a context-sensitive structure that holds University Place’s strong streetwall and faces its main facade with oversized arched windows framed by corbelled brickwork.