In April, Pace Gallery announced plans to redevelop its main building at 540 West 25th Street in Chelsea into an eight-story gallery complex. Now, developer Weinberg Properties has pushed forward with the project by filing applications for a 60,000-square-foot building on the site between 10th and 11th avenues.
RXR Realty is planning to convert the ground floor of the Starrett-Lehigh Building – a 20-story, 2.3-million square-foot office building at 601 West 26th Street, in West Chelsea – into 50,000 square feet of retail space. The building, built in 1931 and designed by Cory & Cory, is an individual landmark and sits within the West Chelsea Historic District, which means the Landmarks Preservation Commission must approve the plans. According to Crain’s, new retail will span the full length of Eleventh Avenue between West 26th and 27th Streets. Verizon previously occupied the ground and second floors of the property along Eleventh Avenue but agreed to relocate within the building. An architecture firm has not been selected, although construction is tentatively expected to begin next year.
In the first half of 2015, YIMBY reported on filings for a nine-story, mixed-use commercial building at 61 9th Avenue, on the corner of West 15th Street in Chelsea, and now Crain’s has the first rendering of the project. The entire structure will measure 153,754 square feet in total, and there will be 115,000 and 37,000 square feet of boutique office and retail space, respectively. Retail will be located on the cellar through the second floor. Rafael Viñoly is behind the design, and Vornado Realty Trust and Aurora Capital are developing. Demolition permits were filed in December to remove the existing lumber shop and billboard sign. Groundbreaking is expected in mid-2016, with completion scheduled for early 2018.
When YIMBY checked in on the bluestone-clad condo building at 155 West 18th Street last month, windows were going in and the facade was snapping into place. Now, we have more renderings of the exterior and the apartments at the 11-story development.
The single-purpose commercial district is a staple of the city’s urban patchwork, whether it is the Diamond District at 47th Street and Fifth Avenue in Midtown, the Lighting District along the Bowery, or the former Radio Row in Lower Manhattan. Among these spaces, the Flower District in Midtown South is among the most unique. The concrete jungle meets the green jungle on sidewalks lined with rows of flowers and shrubbery. Yet while the District has been around for over a century, ongoing transformations are shaking its identity to the core.
