As the New York City Landmarks Preservation works to clear the backlog of items on its calendar for consideration since before 2010, it has mostly dealt with buildings, a.k.a. potential individual landmarks. However, there have been some interiors considered, such as the Osborne Apartments lobby. Another such case is the Edgar J. Kaufman Conference Center at 809 United Nations Plaza in Midtown East.
The two short blocks between Atlantic Avenue and Fulton Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant were once considered undesirable for residential development, because they’re sandwiched between two bustling commercial thoroughfares and two noisy train lines—the elevated Long Island Railroad along Atlantic and the A and C subways rumbling just below Fulton Street. They were transitional, slightly industrial, and the victims of urban renewal schemes. But now developers priced out of the more desirable parts of Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights are looking here, and noticing the benefits of brownstone blocks so close to the train. One such builder filed plans for a five-story residential project at 32 New York Avenue, between Herkimer Street and Atlantic Avenue.
Newmark Holdings and Northwind Group have purchased the 20-story office building at 40 Exchange Place, in the Financial District, for $115 million, according to Crain’s. They plan to renovate the property to accommodate small to mid-sized office tenants. Renovations will include significant changes to the lobby and the building’s common spaces, as well as the addition of retail space on the ground floor. Natixis Real Estate provided a $65 million acquisition loan and a $16.5 million construction loan.
The Yeshiva of Yisrael has filed applications for a four-story, 20,420 square-foot building at 2899 Nostrand Avenue, in Marine Park, in southern Brooklyn. It will include a house of worship, offices, classrooms, study rooms and academic laboratories, according to the Schedule A. Brooklyn-based Ronald Cagan is the applicant of record, and it appears the Yeshiva’s existing building must first be demolished.
John Lavelle, doing business as an anonymous LLC, has filed applications to build four single-family homes at 871-877 Elbe Avenue, in Grasmere, located on the eastern end of Staten Island. Each residence will stand two stories and measure 1,189 square feet in total. Stanley Krebushevski’s Staten Island-based SMK Architect is the applicant of record, and an existing single-family home must first be demolished. Subdivision of the lot was completed last month.
