In March of last year, Cornell Realty filed plans for a 10-story apartment building at 924 Myrtle Avenue, in northern Bed-Stuy, across the street from New York City Housing Authority’s Tompkins Houses. Now, a new developer appears to be in charge, and applications have been filed for a much smaller project.
Beijing-based Xinyuan Real Estate has acquired the dilapidating RKO Keith’s Theatre, of which the interior is an individual landmark, at 135-35 Northern Boulevard, in downtown Flushing, for $66 million. Xinyuan plans to redevelop the property into a 16-story, 269-unit mixed-use building dubbed Flushing Square, Real Estate Weekly reported. The project will encompass 372,598 square feet and will host retail space on the ground and second floors. Pei Cobb Freed & Partners will be responsible for the design. Although redevelopment plans were first filed as far back as 2003, the new architect will likely file new permits with the Buildings Department. Regarding the landmarked interior, Pei Cobb Freed will also have to seek approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission if the firm’s vision differs from those previously approved plans. The site was placed on the market earlier this year after the previous owners, JK Equities, acquired it in 2013 for $30 million.
Property owner Jacob Friedman, doing business as an anonymous Brooklyn-based LLC, has filed applications for a seven-story, 14-unit residential building at 698 Empire Boulevard, on the northern edge of East Flatbush. It will measure 22,639 square feet and its residential units should average 1,305 square feet apiece, indicative of condominiums. There will be two units per floor. Ruslan Goycheyev’s Brooklyn-based RSLN Architecture is the architect of record. The 50-foot-wide, 4,600-square-foot assemblage is currently occupied by two two-story rowhomes. Demolition permits were filed in April. The Kingston Avenue stop on the 2/3 trains is located seven blocks away.
Foundation work is now underway for the 14-story, 55-unit mixed-use building under development at 242 Broome Street (a.k.a. Site 1), located on the corner of Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side. The construction progress can be seen thanks to photos posted to the YIMBY Forums by user rbrome. The latest building permits indicate the new building will encompass 180,646 square feet. There will be 40,326 square feet of commercial-retail space across portions of the cellar through third floors. A bowling ally operated by Splitsville Luxury Lanes is expected to lease a significant amount of space. In addition, there will be 17,735 square feet of community facility space on the second through fourth floors. The space was once reserved for the Andy Warhol Museum, but plans for it have fallen through.
Queens-based Southern Plaza Corp. has filed applications for a three-story, two-unit residential building at 900 Madison Street, in northern Ocean Hill. It will measure 3,892 square feet, 2,978 square feet of which will be residential space. It will host a single apartment on the ground and cellar levels, followed by a second apartment on the second, third, and penthouse levels. Russell A. Dance’s South Ozone Park-based RLD3 Engineering is the applicant of record. The site, a 16-foot-wide, 1,667-square-foot property, is currently vacant. The Gates Avenue stop on the J/Z trains is located three blocks to the north.
