Union Square Merch

Crumbs Bakery on University and 13th has closed…for the second time.

The Observer reports:

Richard Cantor, a principle in the real estate marketing firm of Cantor-Pecorella, considers that the best of Village life consists of “very luxurious” apartments that incorporate the “open expanse” of loft-style living with the communal intimacy of townhouse residency. How serendipitous that Mr. Cantor’s firm should happen to be marketing the new(ish) eight-unit development at 12 East 13th Street co-engineered by DHA Capital and Continental Properties, which, he recently told the Observer, evinces just these same qualities! You know what they say, it’s always easier to sell a product that you truly believe in.

Certain longtime denizens of the Village, of course, would no-doubt quarrel with the tenets of Mr. Cantor’s appraisal, but his luck on East 13th Street has been pretty good so far. He reports that the development has made its first sale, of the full-floor Residence #4, which, he said, went for just shy of its $11.25 million asking price. The buyers, he said, were a young-ish family already living in the area and pleased indeed to find a place of this size–four bedrooms, 4,816 square feet–so near the heart of the neighborhood. The patriarch, naturally, is in finance.

But surely it was not size alone that lured the new owners; there is also, for example, the very luxurious open expanse of the condo’s townhouse-like intimacy to consider. The building, which was converted from a parking garage, retains a trace of automotive functionality, offering private parking spaces gratis for residents via a state-of-the-art robotic system. More creaturely comforts include high ceilings and big windows for plentiful light and air, custom Italian cabinetry, and bathrooms with generous portions of slab marble and Italian limestone.

Mr. Cantor said that he expects several more closures in the coming weeks, and occupancy no later than this summer. But for all you big spenders out there, the glass-sheathed triplex penthouse, we were given to understand, remains available. All you need to move in is $30.5 million, which seems eminently reasonable, for the very best of Village living.

Read more at http://observer.com/2015/03/best-of-the-village-garage-to-condo-development-notches-first-sale-around-11-25m/#ixzz3UYu20ZHe

Manhattan’s second legal marijuana store will open in February at the site of the former Chase bank on the corner of Broadway and 13th Street.

When it opens  it will donate 51% of its revenues to the Doe Fund, which helps vulnerable populations in New York City with work, housing, and access to continuing education, career training, and counseling.

The Doe Fund was one of more than a dozen NGOs and businesses to get a dispensary license in November, indicating that the city is poised to see an influx of legal recreational dispensaries.

The 5,000-square-foot area will be a “higher velocity” store, which means it will be designed to accommodate a larger volume of consumers effortlessly, whether they come in to pick up a pre-order or speak with a budtender.

It’s opening day for the Nutella Café. Start Instagramming.

It’s almost too painful to think about. And while we’re at it, goodbye, Wet Nose Doggy Gym. Looks like the first three buildings along that side of 13th St. will come down and be replaced by…more condos.

From YIMBY.com:
Earlier this month, developer Ranger Properties paid $22,000,000 for two buildings at the corner of University Place and East 13th Street, in the heart of the Village near Union Square. Then EV Grieve reported that longtime stalwart University Place Gourmet had shuttered, along with a Chinese laundry around the corner on 13th Street.

Now plans have been filed to construct a seven-story apartment building on the site at 34 East 13th Street, and Adjmi Architects is designing. There will be six apartments spread across 15,550 square feet of residential space, for a very spacious average unit of 2,591 square feet. They’ll definitely be condos, with just one apartment per floor. Six stories of apartments will be stacked on top of 3,200 square feet of ground floor retail

Amenities listed on the Schedule A include a “private/public” roof deck (maybe there will be both!) and a gym in the cellar.

The 3,300-square-foot property is currently home to three buildings—a four-story apartment building on the corner that has University Gourmet on the ground floor, a single-story building housing a doggy day care, and a three-story apartment building with the laundromat.

Demolition permits have not yet been filed to knock them down.

Before Ranger Properties snapped up the assemblage for $1,100 per buildable square foot, the site hadn’t changed hands since 1980.

However, 34 East 13th Street will seem small compared to the 23-story tower planned one block south at 100 University Place. Harry Macklowe is developing the building, which will stand 309 feet tall and include 52 apartments. Other projects in the hood will also be high-end condos, including 17 East 12th Street and the nearly complete garage conversion at 12 East 13th Street.