For decades (with a brief break), Manhattan had a diner, complete with outdoor seating and a tiny parking lot, near the edge of Midtown West/Hell’s Kitchen. Last year, we learned that the Market Diner at 572 Eleventh Avenue (at the corner of West 43rd Street) would be replaced by an apartment tower. Now, a photo from our friend Tectonic shows that demolition has begun.
The $34 million renovation and redesign of Fordham Plaza – bound by East 189th Street and East Fordham Road, and Park Avenue and Firefighters Boulevard in the West Bronx – has recently been completed, according to the Architect’s Newspaper. The plaza was designed by Grimshaw Architects and features a café, market canopies, public toilets, vegetation, and seating. It also serves 12 bus lines and is directly above the Fordham station on the Metro-North Railroad. The initiative behind the project was to reduce traffic accidents and to create a more pedestrian-friendly experience. The city’s Department of Design and Construction and Department of Transportation were behind the project.
Within the last few weeks, new details emerged of the planned eight-story, 60-unit mixed-use building being developed at 98-02 Queens Boulevard, in Rego Park, and now DNAinfo has a rendering of the project. As reported previously, the 75,000 square-foot structure will contain rental units that come in one-, two-, and three-bedroom configurations. The apartments will average 657 square feet apiece, and amenities include a gym, an indoor pool, a children’s playground, and bike storage. The entire ground floor will be retail and 7,000 square feet of community facility space, in the form of medical offices, will be located on the level above. Demolition of the existing retail structure is expected in the spring and completion is slated for late 2017. Bahar Corporation is developing and Peter Casini Architect is behind the design.
Flushing-based Y.S.A. 91 Development Corporation has filed applications for a four-story, three-unit residential building at 653 Maple Street, on the northern end of East Flatbush, seven blocks from the Sterling Street stop on the 2 and 5 trains. The project will measure 6,050 square feet in total and contain 4,840 square feet of residential space. There will be one unit each on the ground and second floors, and one unit spanning the entire third and fourth floors. Given the spacious layouts, condominiums are most likely in the works. Queens-based Gerald Caliendo is the architect of record. The existing single-story home was filed for demolition this back in September.
In 2012, the Landmarks Preservation Commission twice rejected redevelopment plans for the long-vacant five-story residential building at 721 St. Nicholas Avenue, located on the corner of West 146th Street in the Hamilton Heights section of Harlem. The property sits within the Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill Historic District, which means building alterations require LPC approval. Harlem+Bespoke now reports a gut-renovation, without the expansion, is underway to transform the building into retail space and four residential units. Retail will measure 2,048 square feet on the ground floor, and full-floor units will average 1,278 square feet apiece. There will also be recreational space on the rooftop. Alexander Perros, doing business as an anonymous LLC, is developing, and MK Architecture is the architect of record. Completion is anticipated for this summer.
