330-Unit Residential Conversion Underway at Edison’s Former Battery Factory, 177 Main Street, West Orange, New Jersey

6:30 am on April 26, 2016 By Reid Wilson

Earlier this month, crews began construction on the vacant and dilapidating Edison Storage Battery Company Building – a six-story, 400,000-square-foot former nickel-iron battery factory – located at 177 Main Street, in West Orange, New Jersey. That’s in Essex County. The building is being converted into 330 rental apartments and 18,500 square feet of retail space, according to the New York Times. It’s the first phase of a 21-acre mixed-use mega-development, called Edison Village, being developed by Bloomfield, N.J.-based Prism Capital Partners, Dune Real Estate Partners, and Greenfield Partners. All of the building’s 800 windows will be replaced, as the exterior of the building is being restored to a historical standard. There will be 20 penthouse duplexes, and amenities include a pool and a fitness center.

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550 Madison Avenue

Developer Abandons Plans for Hotel-Condo Conversion of 37-Story Sony Tower, Midtown

6:00 am on April 26, 2016 By Reid Wilson

Last month, the Chetrit Group began converting the 37-story, 855,000-square-foot Sony Tower – the office building at 550 Madison Avenue, between East 55th and 56th streets, in Midtown – into 113 condominiums, a 170-key hotel, and 25,451 square feet of retail space. Now, Olayan America (the U.S. branch of Saudi Arabia-based Olayan Group), with minority investor Chelsfield, is in contract to acquire the tower for more than $1.3 billion, according to The Real Deal, officially stopping the project in its tracks. The new owners will not follow through with the conversion and will lease the building as office space. Chetrit is selling the building, most likely because of the cooling ultra-luxury residential market, for at least $200 million more than what they payed for it in 2013. The soon-to-be new owners have secured $300 million in mezzanine debt and a $600 million mortgage for the acquisition. The sale is expected to close in May.

76-15 45th Avenue

Four Two- & Three-Family Houses Coming to 76-15 45th Avenue, Elmhurst

4:00 pm on April 25, 2016 By Reid Wilson

Property owner Chang Xiong Chen has filed applications for four two- to three-family residential buildings at 76-09 – 76-15 45th Avenue, in northern Elmhurst, located seven blocks from the Elmhurst Avenue stop on the M/R trains. The two inner buildings will be three-story, two-family houses, each measuring 2,415 square feet. They will be bookended by three-story, three-family buildings, each of which will measure 3,905 square feet. Across the entire development, the apartments – coming in full-floor and multi-floor layouts – should average 901 square feet apiece. Dezhang Fang’s Flushing-based Fang Architect is the architect of record. At nos. 76-11 and 76-15, two two-and-a-half-story houses must first be demolished. Permits were filed to do so back in August of 2015.

597 Marcy Avenue

Five-Story, 12-Unit Mixed-Use Building Filed at 597 Marcy Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant

3:00 pm on April 25, 2016 By Reid Wilson

Brooklyn-based Waterfront Property Management has filed applications for a five-story, 12-unit mixed-use building at 597 Marcy Avenue, in northern Bedford-Stuyvesant, located two blocks from the Myrtle-Willoughby Avs. stop on the G train. The structure will encompass 17,888 square feet, and will include 3,150 square feet of ground-floor retail space. There will also be 3,400 square feet of doctors’ offices on the second floor. The residential units will be located on the third through fifth floors, averaging 889 square feet apiece. Amenities include 3,454 square feet of recreational space in the cellar, in addition to storage space for 12 bicycles. Maspeth-based Genaro R. Urueta is the architect of record. Demolition permits were filed in 2014 to remove the existing single-story building.

1141 Lafayette Avenue

Four-Story, 10-Unit Residential Building Planned at 1141 Lafayette Avenue, Bushwick

2:00 pm on April 25, 2016 By Reid Wilson

Tomer Erlich, doing business as an anonymous Brooklyn-based LLC, has filed applications for a four-story, 10-unit residential building at 1141 Lafayette Avenue, in central Bushwick, located two blocks from the Kosciuszko Street stop on the J train. The structure will measure 11,440 square feet, which means its residential units should average 817 square feet apiece, indicative of relatively large rental apartments (for new construction in the area). Robert Bianchini’s Forest Hills-based ARC Architecture + Design Studio is the architect. The 37-foot-wide assemblage consists of a vacant lot (1141 Lafayette) and a four-story townhouse (1143 Lafayette), which received demolition permits earlier this month.