New East Village Hotel may eventually look like a Yes album cover

We've been watching the painting on the new East Village Hotel at 147 First Ave. and East Ninth Street.

Looks like it's still in progress, so we'll check back later... So far, has a little 1970s vinyl art feel to it...

h/t @JacobDAnderson

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Hotel Toshi takes up residency at newly renovated 147 First Avenue

[Updated] Hotel Toshi takes up residency at newly renovated 147 First Avenue

Funny, back in May 2010, a construction worker told Matt at Neighbohoodr that 147 First Avenue was going to be a motel. Ha, ha. Good one!

Anyway, work looks pretty complete on the upper levels here at East Ninth Street... and we've been waiting for any kind of rental-condo listings to go live at the Icon Realty website.

Well, turns out the construction worker was nearly right — the space is now part of the Hotel Toshi/Smart Apartments empire. Per the Smart Apartments website ...

"This is a self-service apartment style hotel located in the East Village on the corner of E9th Street and 1st Avenue. There is no front desk and check-ins must be completed at an iPad kiosk located in the building lobby. At a compact 280 square feet, this corner unit studio apartment packs everything you need for a modern and comfortable stay in New York City. The East Village is full of things to do: consignment and vintage shopping (Tokio 7, Ina), brunch (Prune, Sunburnt Cow), bars, cafes, lounges, and boutique shopping."

We typed in some random dates this month to see about rates. The "studio: corner series" is $299 a night ... and the "studio — standard" is $279.

[Updated] Here is the temporary certificate of occupancy.... the city issued this on May 4; it expires on Aug. 2. (The PDF is here.) It shows a Class B designation, which allows for short-term occupancy, such as hotel rooms...



Icon Realty is also listed on DOB permits as the owner of 325 E. 10th St. where another short-term apartment has been operating ...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ninth Street and First Avenue shocker: Motel ... Hello?

Hotel Toshi takes over 325 E. 10th St.

When Hotel Toshi took over an East Village building

Hotel Toshi hit with all sorts of violations on East 10th Street

When Hotel Toshi took over an East Village building

There's a terrific piece in the last issue of The Villager titled Toshi checked in and turned our lives upside down. In the article, Nancy Koan discusses the horror show that resulted from Hotel Toshi taking over units in her unnamed tenement building.



A few of the many choice excerpts:

When a new owner bought the building in the summer, the air grew increasingly tense. Suddenly, there were “suits” in and out and a sense of danger. We, the core tenants, were basically looked upon as if we were antiquated machinery that should be replaced by new, shinier mechanisms, especially ones that could and would pay a higher rent. A few people heard whispers of buyout, but basically none of us knew what was going on.

And after Toshi took over some unit...

Now, day and night, tourists were dragging their suitcases up the stairs for a stay in real New York for half the price of a proper hotel. The people were very nice, but they were so pissed off at what they found, that they complained to us, the regular tenants, endlessly. The hallways were still in their original deconstructed tenement look, much different from what the visitors expected. In fact, the workers were laying down a kind of cement on the floors, which created a horrid dust. Unfortunately for me, the cement was laid so high, I couldn’t open my front door, and New York’s Bravest firemen had to come and break up the cement so I could exit my apartment.

After a lot of outreach, the tenants were successful in pushing Toshi out. But not without a price.

Perhaps in retaliation for our activism, we, the old, worn-out tenants, found ourselves without heat or hot water during the coldest days in November and December. The new management company says it was because a new boiler had not yet been properly fitted; either way, we were without working heat or an available superintendent.

Now our little group is in court, trying to get an abatement for the hardships we’ve endured and hoping to get violations in the building and our apartments rectified. Buyouts are still being whispered about, but for the time being, we are holding on.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Hotel Toshi takes over 325 E. 10th St.

Read the whole Villager article here.

Life at the renovated 325 E. 10th St.

We've been following the gut renovation at 325 E. 10th Street across from Tompkins Square Park...As we reported in October, the front building is part of the Hotel Toshi empire, the short-term apartment rental network in New York City. Meanwhile, the rear building is residential. (Check out our tour of the building here.)

One of the first residents of the building recently shared his experiences at 325 E. 10th St. since moving in last fall.

According to the reader:

- No heat until December 15th
- No mail (or mailbox) for the first three months
- We've never met our landlord
- Leaky Ceilings
- Rats in the hallways
- Almost NO hot water
-...and to this day, the entire building is still without function gas stovetops in the kitchen, as they forgot to rerun the gas line to the back building during the renovations.

The resident said that the landlord is now knocking $150 off the rent, though that didn't start until last month. As far as the cooking issue, the management company delivered hot plates to their doorsteps. (The Toshi guests now have electric ranges.)

As for the actual apartments, "They're nicely appointed but [there have] been horrible living conditions." According to Streeteasy, the prices here range from $2,000 for a studio to $4,000 for a two-bedroom apartment.

Meanwhile, we asked the resident about the Toshi tenants. The arrival of a Hotel Toshi in at least one neighborhood hasn't always gone so well. In a May story from The Brooklyn Paper titled "Neighbors say Hotel Toshi is a horrorshow hostel":

A hipster hotel that occupies part of a converted loft building in Williamsburg has become such a crash pad that some renters are moving out.

Tenants of a six-story building on Driggs Avenue and S. Fifth Street are accusing the operators of Hotel Toshi of creating a nuisance by allowing their transient guests to throw rowdy late-night parties.

Per the 325 E. 10th St. resident: "Toshi hasn't been loud in this building. Luckily, we have a courtyard separating us, so they aren't roaming around our hallways, and we have a separate roofdeck. My only issue with Toshi residents is they leave their trash in the hallways and front stoop when we have area for all of that in back."

Hotel Toshi hit with all sorts of violations on East 10th Street

Last month, Hotel Toshi, the short-term apartment rental network, took over the front building at 325 E. 10th Street... The various Hotel Toshi properties around the city have had plenty of run-ins with the city... And now 325 E. 10th St. is part of that elite club.... A tipster noted all sorts of NYC Buildings violations posted at 325 this morning...





Among the violations cited by the all-caps crew at the DOB: "OCCUPANCY CONTRARY TO DOB RECORDS,WORK DOES NOT CONFORMS TO APPROVED PLANS."

To be continued, for sure.

Hotel Toshi vans make an appearance on 10th Street

An EV Grieve reader passes along these photos from the new Hotel Toshi location at 325 E. 10th St. ... I also hear some neighbors have reached out to the DOB about the legality of a hotel at this address.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Hotel Toshi takes over 325 E. 10th St.

Hotel Toshi takes over 325 E. 10th St.

Last week, we asked, What is going on with 325 E. 10th St.?



At that time, a prospective tenant told us that he had been approved for an apartment in the front building here along this picturesque stretch that faces Tompkins Square Park. Per the tipster: "We were told the entire building was no longer going to be listed for rent. This was while we were in the process of cutting checks for lease signing. Something is up with this building."

And, thanks to another tipster, we know the answer: The front building is apparently now part of the Hotel Toshi empire, the short-term apartment rental network with 18 buildings — totaling some 50 apartments in downtown Manhattan and Williamsburg.




Per the tipster: "The front building at 325 E. 10th St. has been taken over entirely by Hotel Toshi. There is a resident directory in the lobby that confirms this. The rear apts. have individual names but the front building says 'Toshi, Inc., Toshi, Inc., Toshi, Inc' for every unit."

The rear building with the studios will remain residential....

The arrival of a Hotel Toshi in some neighborhoods hasn't always gone so well. In a May story from The Brooklyn Paper titled "Neighbors say Hotel Toshi is a horrorshow hostel":

A hipster hotel that occupies part of a converted loft building in Williamsburg has become such a crash pad that some renters are moving out.

Tenants of a six-story building on Driggs Avenue and S. Fifth Street are accusing the operators of Hotel Toshi of creating a nuisance by allowing their transient guests to throw rowdy late-night parties.

Tenant activism led to the departure of a Hotel Toshi back in June, as NYC the Blog reported.

Curbed has also been covering the various Hotel Toshi sagas through the years. You can read all that here. Perhaps 325 E. 10th St. will become another saga to follow...