Most of the new construction in Long Island City dwarfs what it replaces, whether the new buildings are 50-story towers or mid-rise apartment buildings. However, every once in a while, someone tears down a wood frame house to build a slightly larger townhouse.
Property owner UDR has filed applications for a single-story, 6,179-square-foot retail building at 401 East 34th Street, located on the corner of East 35th Street and First Avenue in Kips Bay. The new structure will host a restaurant on the ground floor and retail space in the cellar. It will be located on the grounds of Joseph Slifka Park, where a playground currently exists. The new retail space won’t have to be approved through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) even though it’s being built on public park space. In October of 2015, Community Board 6 voted to allow retail project to proceed without a rezoning/city approval. Brooklyn-based Much Architecture is the architect of record. The park – which was built as part of the 35-story, 706-rental-unit residential building View 34 (previously known as Rivergate) – will also see an overhaul, with upgrades including a new dog run and an artificial turf area.
Since topping out earlier this year, façade installation has been the focus at the seven-story, 48-unit mixed-use project under development at 500 Waverly Avenue, located on the corner of Fulton Street in southern Clinton Hill. Progress on the exterior can be seen thanks to a photo taken by Tectonic. The latest permits indicate the new building, dubbed Waverly Brooklyn, measures 62,719 square feet. On the ground floor will be 7,568 square feet of retail space, followed by 48 condominium above. The apartments should average 975 square feet apiece and will range from studios to four-bedrooms. Amenities include a 33-car underground garage, private residential storage units, a fitness center, a lounge featuring a library, media center, and pantry, landscaped terraces on the second floor and rooftop, and bike storage. Orange Management is the developer and Gerner, Kronick & Valcarcel is the architect. Completion is expected later this year.
Northern Hell’s Kitchen is getting a movie theater. Now that exterior construction has been completed on the 32-story, 709-unit mixed-use building, dubbed VIA 57 WEST, at 625 West 57th Street in Hell’s Kitchen, work is underway to lease the building’s apartments and fill its 45,000 square feet of retail space. One of those commercial tenants now includes Landmarks Theatres, which will operate an eight-screen movie theater within the base of the building.
Saeed Bloorian, doing business as Jamaica-based Inwood Home, has filed applications for two two-story, two-family houses at 193-20 120th Avenue and 120-10 194th Street, in St. Albans. The house fronting 120th Avenue, also located on the corner of 194th Street, will measure 3,498 square feet. There will be one unit per floor along with two off-street parking spots. The house fronting 194th Street, located behind the first house, will measure a slightly smaller 3,375 square feet. It will boast the same configurations as the first and will also come with two off-street parking spots. Barry J. Bank’s Kew Gardens-based consulting engineering firm is the applicant of record. The assemblage measures 7,500 square feet in total. An existing dilapidated house must first be demolished.
