644 Gates Avenue

Co-Op School Planning Three-Story, 30,000-Square-Foot Facility at 644 Gates Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant

Bawabeh Realty Holdings, with the Co-op School, are planning to redevelop the single-story retail building at 644 Gates Avenue, in the heart of Bedford-Stuyvesant, into a three-story, 30,000-square-foot school. The existing structure will be gut-renovated and expanded two stories, according to Crain’s. It will have enough classrooms for 250 middle school students, plus it will have a library, an auditorium, a music room, and an 8,000-square-foot rooftop recreational area with a garden. The Co-op School has already leased the space from Bawabeh, the property owner. A Family Dollar must first vacate the property, and the new building is expected to open in 2018.

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225 West 86th Street

Developer Plans 213-Unit Condo Conversion at 13-Story Rental Building, 225 West 86th Street, Upper West Side

HFZ Capital is planning to convert the Belnord – a 13-story, 218-unit rental building at 225 West 86th Street, on the Upper West Side – into 213 condominium units. The developer recently filed their plans with the Attorney General’s office and expects the future condominiums to be worth a total $1.3 billion, according to The Real Deal. HFZ acquired the residential portion of the block-encompassing building – bound by West 86th and 87th streets, Broadway, and Amsterdam Avenue – for $575 million last year. The ground-floor sections contain retail space and will be left untouched. The property is an individual landmark (and is also listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places), which means any exterior alterations must be approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

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450 Eleventh Avenue

New Details of 42-Story, 440-Key Starwood Hotel Planned at 450 Eleventh Avenue, Hudson Yards District

Flushing-based Marx Development Group reacquired, for $35 million, the development assemblage at 450 Eleventh Avenue, located on the corner of West 37th Street in the Hudson Yards District, in 2013. Since then, the developer purchased 35,550 square feet of development rights for $7 million, and now new details of the planned hotel have been revealed by The Real Deal. Planned is a 42-story, 440-key Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide hotel. The tower will measure roughly 213,300 square feet and will feature 3,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. DSM Design Group is designing the project. Groundbreaking is expected later this year, and opening is slated for 2019. Two low-slung commercial buildings – at 448-452 Eleventh Avenue – must first be demolished.

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