BY Aline Reynolds
Two properties Downtown will soon receive substantial makeovers, including one that will house several hundred Pace University undergraduates.
SL Green Realty Corp. is demolishing three crumbling buildings at 180 Broadway, 182 Broadway and 2 John Street to make way for a 23-story dormitory, three stories of which will include high-end retail. The project is estimated to cost $75 million.
According to SL Green Vice President Edward Piccinich, Pace committed to a long-term lease that was hard to turn down. “It was best, economically for us to do a 30-year deal and have retail below the dorms,” he said. “To be able to get a tenant for 30 years was an ideal situation.”
Rather than mom-and-pop stores, Piccinich said, “I think these folks are looking for national chains like Tiffany’s and Hermes.”
Demolition of the three buildings will start in late March. The necessary asbestos work is already done, while excavation and foundation work on the buildings should be completed by September. The complex is slated to open in January 2013.
“We’ll be doing [demolition] by hand to make sure we don’t have any accidents,” said Piccinich, in response to the community’s concern over the demolition potentially causing damage to nearby buildings. SL Green will also conduct independent third-party inspections of the cranes and other construction equipment they’ll be using at the site.
The firm is also assigning a site-safety manager to the construction zone, and will be erecting a sidewalk shed and installing netting around the site to protect pedestrians and workers. There will also be personnel on the premises to minimize noise levels.
Nearby residents who have noise or other construction-related complaints are asked to call 1-877-SLG-4180, a new, 24-7 hotline SL Green set up in response to concerns raised at Community Board 1’s Financial District Committee two weeks ago. A live representative who is supposed to promptly alert members of the construction team will answer the hotline, which will be activated in the next week.
“It’s great. I think it’ll raise some eyebrows,” said Ro Sheffe, chair of the Financial District Committee. “It’s rare for a contractor to take that step… it shows they’re working very hard to be good neighbors. And right now… we need good neighborhood developers.”
Construction at the sites will take place between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., Piccinich noted, with periodic work on weekends. Part of Broadway will be closed for construction staging and delivery for the majority of the project’s duration.
“There’s no way around it, but I don’t think it’ll be a significant difference in the arterial traffic flow,” Sheffe said of the partial road closure, especially since Broadway one block north of the site will also be temporarily closed due to the construction of the Fulton Street Transit Center.
Downtown Holiday Inn to come
Manhattan’s newest Holiday Inn will also be up and running by 2013. The space was previously a five-story, steel-framed parking garage that many locals and tourists considered to be an eyesore.
The 43-story building at 99 Washington Street will have 416 rooms, a restaurant, a conference room and a gym. It will target traveling businessmen and women during the week, and families on weekends, according to Patrick Jones, counsel for McSam Downtown, the developer handling the $40 million project.
McSam, he said, is looking forward to reaping the benefits of Downtown’s recent hotel boom; occupancy rates, Jones said, are climbing past 80 percent, and returns are strong.
The building’s exterior will consist of charcoal-colored brick in a contemporary masonry style that Jones said will resemble a residence. The site is surrounded by Moran’s restaurant at 103 Washington Street and 18th-century townhouses.
Construction will begin in late April or early May, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays. One lane of Washington Street and the adjacent sidewalk, Jones noted, will be periodically blocked for construction. Weekend work, he said, is not anticipated, though it could arise.
Financial District Committee members requested that the developer install a mirror at the corner of Rector and Washington Streets to improve pedestrian visibility, which is already hampered by a construction fence and narrow sidewalks. They also asked about McSam Downtown’s rat abatement strategies during construction.
“There’s a concern that rats will scurry once there’s a lot of activity,” said Jones. “If the neighbors want us to do [abatement], we’ll do it.”
