YIMBY previously reported that construction began on the through-block project spanning from 527 West 27th Street to 520 West 28th Street back in January, and we followed up with a partial reveal from the construction documents later that month. Now we have the full renderings for the building, dubbed Jardim, which is being designed by Isay Weinfeld. Centaur Properties and Greyscale Development Group are developing the project, and Pizzarotti IBC is the builder.
Jardim, image by VUW Studio
The project will have 36 condominiums in total, averaging 2,500 square feet apiece. The development will be split between two different buildings, one fronting 27th Street and the other 28th Street, and it seems the design’s theme will hinge on a literal interpretation of “concrete jungle,” although a portion of the 27th Street-facing building also appears to be clad in brick.
Most of the exterior will feature a cast-concrete facade, interspersed with varying amounts of greenery. The roof will be particularly lush, and the balconies are also replete with hanging plants.
Penthouse, image by VUW Studio
Both 27th and 28th Streets have seen rapid changes over the past few years, and the largest recent development on the block is the AVA High Line, which injected several hundred market-rate rentals into the neighborhood. The Hudson Yards towers are also rising above 30th Street, and the scale of new buildings becomes dramatically larger immediately above 29th Street.
Exterior close-up, image by VUW Studio
Next door to Jardim, Related’s Zaha Hadid-designed 520 West 28th Street offers a better comparison in terms of use and scope, and both buildings will house collections of astronomically-priced condos.
The project’s builder and architect have worked together previously, and per a statement from Pizzarotti IBC:
This is the second collaboration between Pizzarotti and Isay Weinfeld. The first project was La Petite Afrique. FPMC (Fine Properties Monte Carlo – Pizzarotti Group and the Casiraghi family) are currently building and developing La Petite Afrique and held an international architectural competition, and selected world famous Isay Weinfeld to design the spectacular Monte Carlo project.
As for Jardim, completion is expected by the end of 2016, and sales are starting this year.
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This building makes me angry. I live on 27th St and I have a nice patio with a beautiful view of the Empire State Building. This building is going to completely block that view, I’ll just be looking at the side of this new building within months of this comment I’m leaving. I live in a 5-story building so an 11-story building to the East of me will block the entire view. My view will just become a generic view that could be anywhere in the 5 boroughs.
Now sure I am bias because of this and you may not take my opinion seriously. It is just very bad luck that the only building on the entire block will block my view (what are the odds?) But it doesn’t mean that I don’t have a valid point about what these high-rises are doing to the allure and feel of Chelsea (I consider any building that is more than 9 stories high a high-rise): The entire north side of 27th st between 10th and 11th Ave where I live are 5 or 6 story buildings, this complex will be 11-stories. That just doesn’t make any sense to me, aren’t there zoning rules? How can you just build a building twice the size of every other building in the area? Even worse, a building a block away from me is nearly 40 stories, 4 or 5 times as tall as any other building on the block. It doesn’t make sense. The allure of Chelsea, or a big part of it, is that it is relatively smaller than midtown. Midtown is huge, 40, 50-story buildings, when you walk on the sidewalks, you can barely get where you are going amidst the giant hoards of people, people have to walk in the street as there isn’t enough room on the sidewalk for everyone. It’s crowded, very loud and also impossible to drive around if you have a car. My area is easy to drive around except for the areas where these is construction on new high-rises and they are blocking off half the lanes on the Avenue. On 10th Ave now there is major bumper to bumper traffic all day usually starting at 26th street until 31st street because they are blocking half the lanes of 10th Ave at 30th street due to construction on a high-rise building. At 30th st and 10th ave, there is a traffic cop all day directing traffic and he usually waves cars through for a good 5-6 seconds after the light turns red, thus holding up cars with the green light. Because of this, drivers on 10th ave a block away who don’t see him yet, see the cars in front of them not moving when the light turns green. This, as you might predict in New York, results in every car for a few blocks with a green light honking their horns. During the day on my patio, all I hear with every traffic light cycle is a surprising eardrum-busting volume of honking horns. My point? Construction itself really makes neighborhoods that were once relatively quiet into loud drilling, hammering, banging, sawing, horn-honking areas, increasing traffic and making the area a generally less pleasant place to live. And the result is a much more crowded area due to the huge increase in residents. Chelsea is relatively quieter and smaller, small stores, plenty of space to walk or drive (and think =) ). They are building a lot of high rises now in Chelsea, the nearly 40-story building I mentioned above is actually a new complex a block away from me, it wasn’t even there a few years ago, all these high-rises are fairly new. It is just like the Upper-West Side with all those high rises going up by the West Side Highway, except that area already had tall buildings. Soon Chelsea is going to be like midtown, or the UWS, which is twice as crowded. The high rent of this area is a result of the nice small size of the neighborhood. Just 15 blocks north, where 40-story buildings are common, you can rent a 2 bedroom apartment for the same price as a 1 bedroom apartment in Chelsea. If they keep building high-rises in Chelsea and the area gets really crowded, the rent will go down and the area will not be as nice or enticing.
The area is supposed to be about small residential buildings, small brownstones, little bodegas, shops, and delis like queens, but in Manhattan. It is about smaller community but the high rises are slowly sneaking their way down from the 30-block area to the 20-block area. Soon they will be at 10th st, then on their way into Soho, Chinatown, etc… That nice feel of Soho with all those small cheese shops, bakeries and other specialty shops in an area where buildings’ stories are in the single digits will be gone. Once the leases expire on these small shops in areas where the skyline is rising, they go out of business many times, replaced by chain businesses who can afford the higher rent. The “old New York” part of the city will be gone.
Now this might not happen, it might just end with this area of the upper 20s, but who knows, it’s a slippery slope. They probably wouldn’t allow building a 40 story building on 17th st at 7th ave now, but once those high-rises creep down into that area, then it won’t seem such a big deal anymore and they will issue permits for those buildings in areas where you wouldn’t dream of doing it now. More property tax for the city at the expense of the area. Chelsea in 20-30 years will become Midtown.
Maybe I will just move into this new building, have my view back, and shut up? Maybe, but even if I have my view back, I still have the opinion that Chelsea is getting too big. It would be unfair to not admit that there are benefits to building more residential areas in Chelsea, more people can live here, it may result in more commercial businesses starting up here, it lifts the economy. However, I also think that I have a point in that you can’t put a price on some things, such as the feel of Chelsea, that small community feel with small residential brownstones and buildings and small shops within one of the largest cities in the World. Those small shops will disappear with rising leases for businesses and even though it may take 100 years, maybe 200 years, I hate to think that Chelsea in 200 years will be blocks and blocks of 40-story high-rises with chain restaurants like Applebees and Fridays mixed in with 3-story Targets and Bed Bath and Beyonds. Might as well move across the Hudson River…
awww, you poor baby! Your life is so difficult…..You sound like a privileged, spoiled, brat. If you don’t like the changes in the neighborhood – MOVE!