Like everywhere else in the Downtown area, Union Square is becoming increasingly residential, as witnessed by two new high-end projects currently in the works. At 8 Union Square S., at 14th St. and University Pl. (top), Michael Shvo, an up-and-coming young broker turned developer, is building and marketing a 14-floor building with 20 apartment condominiums with two- and three-bedrooms starting at $1.5 million. There will be a commercial space on the ground floor, and the building will reportedly have an installation of moving lights on the top. In March, Shvo told metro newspaper: “This building will be ready in two to three months and the only thing I can say right now is we’re bringing something that is going to change the face of Union Square more than Whole Foods.” Occupying the site before was a 1949 Morris Lapidus-designed commercial building formerly home to Paterson Silks and most recently Odd Job; the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission declined calls to landmark the building, and it was demolished for the new project. Three blocks east, on Third Ave. between 14th and 13th Sts., Toll Brothers is building One Ten Third (two views at left), a 21-story apartment tower with 77 units, with one- to three-bedrooms ranging from $850,000 to $2.2 million. There will be ground-floor retail. Expected completion date is next spring. On the location formerly was the historic Variety Arts Theater, which in the early 20th century was a nickelodeon, where people paid a nickel to see movies.
