That’s Some Pothole

The New School, has picked up 34-42 West 14th St, a five-story, 180,000 square foot building, for $153 million.

The seller was Samson Associates and the sale closed on Jan. 10, according to the Commercial Observer. Samson had owned the property since 1985. The building’s tenants will remain and pay rent to the school until their leases expire but those leases won’t be renewed. The school will take over space over time and convert it to academic uses. The building has about 25k SF of ground-floor retail space and comes with additional air rights.

Note that price: $153 million.

A fire engine passes by the Star Theater, where today’s Regal 14 Cineplex is located.

Allbirds, the shoes that Silicon Valley loves, signed an 8,000-square-foot lease deal with The Bromley Companies at 120-122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District. The clothing and shoe company will be moving into the two-floor space at the Bromley building after The Gap moved out in the summer of 2021 after nearly 30 years. The retail space on West 17th Street and Fifth Avenue will serve as Allbirds’ U.S. flagship store. The sudden vacancy left by The Gap marked the first time in four decades that the retail location had been empty, having been home to the first Barnes & Noble superstore in the nation prior to the clothing store coming to the Flatiron.

What used to be Wok to Walk on University Place between 12th and 13th is now Sausage Inc. selling…sausages.

Weird that Il Laboritorio del Gelato has chosen to open at 56 University Place on the corner of 10th Street, directly across from Amorino, but so it goes.

This view shows the east side of 5th Ave. at 13th St. in 1911. In other words, it’s where the New School now has its main entrance. Down the block on 13th St. you can see the tallish building that is now apartments. Ah, the good old days. Note that even in 1911, those elegant brownstones had seen better days. Since then, three large buildings have stood on this block, so that’s one reinvention about every 35 years.

Credit: New York Public Library Digital Collection.