The City Planning Commission voted this morning to certify the rezoning of Midtown East, beginning the public review process for a dramatic upzoning that the city hopes will generate new office buildings.
The Pestana Hotel Group has purchased, for $16 million, a 99-year ground-lease for the 2,469-square-foot vacant lot at 23 East 39th Street, in Midtown East. The hotelier is planning to develop a 27-story, 97-key hotel at the site, Commercial Observer reported. Building permits, approved by the Department of Buildings in December 2015, are currently on file for a 27-story, 96-key structure, which YIMBY reported on in 2014. The plans indicate the tower will encompass 39,964 square feet and rise 273 feet to its pinnacle. Gene Kaufman’s SoHo-based architecture firm is behind the plans, although it wasn’t stated if Pestana will move forward with the same design. Arbalest Capital Corp. is the property owner. The site was home to a five-story building until March 2016, when it was demolished.
Vinbaytel Developments has acquired the vacant three-story, 5,148-square-foot mixed-use building at 192 Eighth Avenue, located between West 19th and 20th streets in Chelsea. The new owner plans to build a six-story, five-unit mixed-use building, Commercial Observer reported. Building permits, which have not yet been approved, are currently on file for a 10,390-square-foot structure with 2,090 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, although the rendering appears to indicate retail on the second floor, as well. The residential condominiums, which should average 1,660 square feet apiece, will be located across the second through sixth floors, plus a seventh-floor penthouse. Little Neck, Queens-based Versatile Engineering is the applicant of record.
Last year, Bauhouse Group’s Joseph Beninati unveiled ambitious plans to build a 950-foot-tall skyscraper at 3 Sutton Place, also known as 430 East 58th Street. Beninati defaulted on a $147 million loan in January, and the original lender for the deal, Gamma Real Estate, purchased the site and air rights for $98 million in a foreclosure auction last month. Now they’ve filed plans for an 844-foot-tall residential building on the property between First Avenue and Sutton Place.
2015 marked the 50th anniversary of the New York City landmarks law. There were occasions to celebrate, and the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated six individual landmarks and four historic districts. 2016 was considerably busier for the commission. It designated 40 individual landmarks and two historic districts, including 12 new Midtown East landmarks and 26 sites from its backlog. Here are all of them, for you to take in as the year comes to a close.
