BY SERGIE KLEBNIKOV | A Department of Buildings permit, filed on July 7, calls for a large-scale project to “convert existing multiple dwellings into a single family residence.” After receiving a tip, Curbed NY first reported on the permit situation, which is unknown to many local residents.
The West Village walk-up at 54 Barrow St. is made up of 20 apartments, across five floors. The red-brick structure, located between Bedford and Bleecker Sts., was built in 1910, and still has several tenants paying rent in the $3,000-$4,000 per month range. The architect listed on the permit is Jose Ramirez, who is known for several townhouses, summer houses, commercial buildings and apartments that he has previously designed. The cost of the project is estimated at $480,000 for changes to the 9,578-square-foot property.
However, the building is owned by an entity listed as 54 Barrow Street Associates, who bought the building in 2012 for $8.2 million. The address for 54 Barrow Street Associates is listed as 504 E. 12th St., a rental building that was part of many bought by Jared Kushner in 2013, according to Curbed NY’s article. The contact name listed on the permit is Patrick Crosetto, the COO of Kushner Companies, Kushner’s real estate group. Last year, at a Community Board 3 meeting, Crosetto revealed that between the East and West Villages, Kushner owns 36 buildings, including 40 storefronts. He is also the publisher of The New York Observer.
The real estate mogul has made a name for himself in the Village – “and not in a good way,” according to an article in the NY Daily News, published earlier in July. Curbed NY even reports that his real estate group has been “accused of trying to take over the East Village.”
“We’re seeing this happen more and more as a longstanding trend in the Village,” said Andrew Berman, Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. He expressed a “concern about the changing nature of the neighborhood,” and described seeing “previous examples of similar situations in the Village.” Berman stated that he had nothing against wealthy people choosing to live in, and be part of, the neighborhood, but expressed concern that many units of housing are getting used up — especially when some of them are viewed as affordable.
Jim Drougas, owner of Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books at 34 Carmine St., said that he wasn’t originally aware of the situation. However, he described it as “one more example of the super-rich cannibalizing the middle class.” The longtime owner has had the bookstore for 22 years, and has been living in the Village since the 1970s. The independent bookstore is stocked with a floor-to-ceiling collection of personally-selected works at remarkably low prices, and was a 2014 Village Award Winner. “It would be one more step towards the middle class joining the revolution,” Drougas said of the situation. “I’m counting on them when the time comes.”
Nearby local resident, Patrick Shields, also expressed concern at the filed permit. “With buildings like 54 Barrow St., if it started life as a tenement with rental units, it should stay that way,” he said. He added that if information on who is going to live there is vague, the permit should be denied.
On July 25th, the Department of Buildings reportedly did just that, and marked it as disapproved. However, permits can be temporarily turned down before later getting the go ahead, Berman noted. Regardless, the intentions for 54 Barrow St. remain unclear. Kushner could be attempting to combine the apartments and sell the building for a huge profit, or the building could serve as Crosetto’s new personal home.
