Report: The historic 137 2nd Ave. — the former Stuyvesant Polyclinic — has a new owner

One of the neighborhood's most unique properties has a new (mystery) owner. 

The landmarked three-story building at 137 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street just changed hands for $18.95 million, the Post first reported. 

The unknown buyer was listed as 137 Second Avenue Holdings, LLC. No word on what the new tenant has planned for the space, which hit the market back in March. 

According to the listing, possible uses included "a future townhouse or residential redevelopment."

The neo-Italian Renaissance brick building is the former German Dispensary, which opened in 1884. (In 1905 it became the Stuyvesant Polyclinic.) 

Here's more about the building from a 2008 New York Times feature:

Like the branch library next door, the Second Avenue building of the German Dispensary was the gift of Anna and Oswald Ottendorfer, who ran the German newspaper New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung. That journal had great influence in Little Germany, on the Lower East Side around First and Second Avenues below 14th Street. The 1886 edition of Appleton's Dictionary of New York described an area in which "lager-beer shops are numerous, and nearly all the signs are of German names."

The building was designated a New York City Landmark in 1976. Learn more about No. 137's history and architecture at Off the Grid here.

In 2019, the space became the headquarters of the female-focused co-working club The Wing. Per reports at the time, "the HQ is intended to riff off the building's original details, such as existing terracotta tile floors, decorative pillars, moldings and skylights."

According to Curbed, who first reported on this availability in March, "The Wing's furniture is still in the building and can be included in the sale."

Apparently, the new owner didn't want that furniture. On July 20, EVG contributor Derek Berg spotted workers trashing some pretty nice-looking office fixtures... not to mention some books...

Derek alerted the folks at Village Works around the corner on St. Mark's Place, who were able to salvage some of the books...

The historic 137 2nd Ave. — the former Stuyvesant Polyclinic — is now for sale

The landmarked building constructed in the 1880s at 137 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street can now be yours for just over $22.5 million.

In 2019, the three-level (plus) space became the headquarters of the female-focused co-working club The Wing. Per reports at the time, "the HQ is intended to riff off the building's original details, such as existing terracotta tile floors, decorative pillars, moldings and skylights."

According to Curbed, who first reported on this availability, "The Wing's furniture is still in the building and can be included in the sale."

Here's what you get via the Cushman & Wakefield listing:

The Property features 50’ of frontage along 2nd Avenue and is located steps from New York's most iconic destinations and landmarks. The Property is currently configured as a state-of-the-art, turnkey, elevator commercial building that will be delivered vacant, making it a rare blank canvas opportunity for future purchasers. 

Its previous tenant retrofitted every inch of the space into pristine, Class A office space with excellent ceiling heights, abundant light and air, ample outdoor space, and flexible floor layouts. The Property also benefits from its flexible zoning allowing residential, commercial, mixed-use, recreational or community facilities. 

This wide array of potential uses makes this a perfect opportunity for a future townhouse or residential redevelopment, or a future headquarters for an office user as well as a wide array of other users including religious organizations, governments, family offices, foundations, doctors ...

A future townhouse!

The neo-Italian Renaissance brick building is the former German Dispensary, which opened in 1884. (In 1905 it became the Stuyvesant Polyclinic.) 

Here's more about the building from 2008 New York Times feature:

Like the branch library next door, the Second Avenue building of the German Dispensary was the gift of Anna and Oswald Ottendorfer, who ran the German newspaper New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung. That journal had great influence in Little Germany, on the Lower East Side around First and Second Avenues below 14th Street. The 1886 edition of Appleton's Dictionary of New York described an area in which "lager-beer shops are numerous, and nearly all the signs are of German names."

And... 

In more recent years — until its sale [in 2008] — the old dispensary building was part of Cabrini Medical Center. Although hospitals are notoriously hard on historic architecture, the interior of the Schickel building was remarkably intact, if run-down, with intricate stairway ironwork and door enframements, red marble wainscoting and a highly colored tile floor. 

In 2008, a British consulting firm bought the building for $13 million. Following the sale, the firm hired architects David Mayerfield Associates to restore both the interior and exterior. 

Per a feature at Daytonian in Manhattan: 

When dropped ceilings in the main hall were removed, the 1884 skylights, blacked out in World War II, were rediscovered. Similarly, stained-glass panels in the ceiling of the staircase were uncovered. The colorful encaustic tile floors had been covered over with concrete which was meticulously scraped away. 

The building was designated a New York City Landmark in 1976. Learn more about No. 137's history and architecture at Off the Grid here.

What's new at the Stuyvesant Polyclinic?: Well, it's better than Lenny Kravitz

The Stuyvesant Polyclinic on Second Avenue between St. Mark's and Ninth Street has a new tenant...

As Crain's reports:

British consulting firm ?What If! has signed a 10-year lease for all of 137 Second Ave., a landmarked three-story building constructed in 1884 to provide medical care to German immigrants.

?What If!, which specializes in business growth strategies, will use the 14,100-square-foot property, between St. Mark’s Place and Ninth Street, as its U.S. headquarters. It plans to move from the 5,000 square feet it rents at 62 White St. by the end of October. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

The ornate facade of the red brick and terra cotta building trumpets its original function, with busts of Hippocrates and other scientific pioneers. 137 Second Ave. has been home to a series of medical facilities, the last of which closed in 2005. Redevelopment plans, including one to turn it into apartments, faltered over the years because of objections by the community and the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Two investment firms, 135 Second and Lower East Side Equities, bought the building last year, thinking its prominent East Village location would attract retail tenants. After some deals fell through, the owners were introduced to Nina Powell, a managing partner at ?What If!

Ms. Powell, who calls the building “phenomenal,” especially liked the high ceilings, eight-foot-wide wrought-iron staircase and great natural light. During renovations, the firm discovered such details as skylights that had been blocked by dropped ceilings and stained-glass windows that were covered by walls.

The offices, Ms. Powell said, will create an environment in which employees can come up with good campaigns for ?What If! clients, which include Nike and HSBC. “Gray spaces produce gray ideas,” she adds.

As Jeremiah had reported in April: "The broker's listing hoped a rock star like Lenny Kravitz would buy the building for $13 million and install an 'indoor/outdoor saltwater swimming pool exiting to your gigantic organic garden' along with other whimsies."

[Villager file photo]

The Times looks at the Stuyvesant Polyclinic

The Times looks at The German Dispensary and adjacent library on Second Avenue between 8th and 9th Streets today. (You know, the Stuyvesant Polyclinic...mansion of death.)

The piece gives a broad history of the space...and a glimpse of the future, possibly dispelling a few of the rumors surrounding its fate:

Now the architect David Mayerfeld is working on an alteration for a future occupant, which he describes only as “a think-tank sort of thing, that works on business problems.”

He plans to strip the paint from the intricate ironwork stairway railings and columns, and will have to add a sprinkler system throughout to retain the open stair hall. He says that removing half a century of dropped ceilings and tacked-on flooring has been a process of discovery, as bits of tile, tin ceiling and other finishes suddenly appear.

Previously: Jeremiah has been following this development...read his coverage here.