By Patrick Hedlund
Trinity art-space bid
The vacant lot owned by Trinity Real Estate at Canal St. and Sixth Ave. in Hudson Square will host a grouping of large-scale, interactive sculpture installations over the next few years through a partnership between the real estate big and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
The announcement from Trinity came last week after Mixed Use had inquired previously about a planned “interim use” at the site, which will go undeveloped for at least the next two years as the dominant neighborhood property owner mulls future construction options.
The 37,000-square-foot, triangular plot will contain approximately four outdoor works that will rotate on a yearly basis as part of the L.M.C.C.’s Swing Space program, according to Erin Roeder, Trinity’s director of Strategic Neighborhood Development.
The installations will include “inhabitable or semi-inhabitable” pieces with up to 400 square feet of interior space each, including work by both emerging and well-established Downtown artists, said L.M.C.C. curator Adam Kleinman.
The site will also incorporate innovative landscape design, he added, playing off the area’s diverse neighborhood flavors and heavy pedestrian and car traffic. The plot will not likely include greenery, Kleinman noted, but will allow for pedestrians to pass through the space and interact with the installations.
“It will most probably have contemplative or relaxational space,” he said, with the first works to be installed by as early as spring to “get it up for when people would most likely be outside.”
Ludlow lure on L.E.S.
A lot has been made of one of the Lower East Side’s newest developments, The Ludlow, a 23-story luxury residential building at Ludlow and E. Houston Sts. that has leased more than half its units after opening in September.
Advertisements for the 243-unit development — which invite tenants to “Live like a Rockefeller” and “Party like a rockstar” — have helped the building reach the 60 percent-leased mark after sellers began offering incentives for residents to offset a slow opening.
The Ludlow includes studio units, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms starting at $2,890 per month and going up to $5,800, with some units featuring home office space. According to Erik Rose, vice president of real estate for developer Edison Properties, only one one-bedroom with a home office component remains, while all the studio/home office units have been leased.
Incentives such as a month’s free rent, suspended broker fees, free moving services and free storage have been offered to lure potential tenants, reportedly as a way to combat any possible ill effects of an unpredictable market.
The luxe high-rise sits across the street from the historic Katz’s Deli in what has become a hotbed for development and nightlife activity. Amenities at the building include a fitness center and yoga studio, a multimedia lounge and billiards center, 24-hour concierge and valet service, common roof deck and building-wide wireless Internet service. Everything a Rockefeller/rock star could ask for.
Avella on St. Vincent’s
The embattled redevelopment plan for St. Vincent’s Hospital has drawn criticism from concerned Villagers and West Siders since its announcement last year, but now Queens Councilmember and mayoral candidate Tony Avella has offered his two cents on the proposal.
In a letter to St. Vincent’s President Henry Amoroso, Avella, chairperson of the Council’s Zoning and Franchises Committee, requested that the project not only blend in with area building height and bulk, but also include an affordable-housing component. His appeals mirror those sought by Democratic District Leaders Keen Berger and Brad Hoylman of the Village Independent Democrats political club, who have also called for the project to include an affordable component. Avella is asking St. Vincent’s to review testimony from the Pratt and Urban Justice Centers, “which outlines a number of subsidy and financing programs that would enable St. Vincent’s to include affordable housing while maintaining the necessary financial viability that you require for the project.”
Avella noted his Council vote on the project would depend on St. Vincent’s consideration of these suggestions and the concerns of the community.
“By working together with the community,” Avella said, “St. Vincent’s can create a development that will be a great health and housing resource to the local neighborhood and the city.”
Near sellout on 6th Ave.
The boutique 10-story development at 100 W. 18th St. at Sixth Ave. has sold about 90 percent of its units since hitting the market a year ago, with occupancy slated to begin this month.
Located on the cusp of Chelsea and the Flatiron District, the 43-unit condo building features convertible one-, two- and three-bedroom units, including separate penthouses, ranging in size from 800 to 3,000 square feet. Currently, the development has one $1.2 million one-bedroom unit available; two $2.25 million to $2.45 million two-bedroom units convertible to three-bedrooms; and a $5.3 million three-bedroom penthouse with a 1,525-square-foot roof deck, said sales director Vicki Sparks.
The Brauser Group developed the project, enlisting architect Garrett Gourlay to design the building along the retail-rich stretch. It features multiple setbacks, private terraces and a black-brick facade.
Typical buyers have included mostly singles and couples without children, ranging in age from 20 to 40, said Linda S. Alexander of Alexander Marketing. She added that most of the buyers were New Yorkers already living in the city.
“It’s a really great success story,” Alexander noted of the near sellout. “The challenge for us is that there was so much product on the market at the same time.”
