Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Avenue D's future

Back in July 2008, the building at Avenue D and Houston came down...




Now an empty lot waits for the inevitable development...






And any proposed development could grow with the closure of the Pioneer Supermarket...



Well, according to the Lo-Down, this is the new building in the works for this space:



As the Lo-Down reported:

Developers of a proposed apartment building envisioned on the northwest corner of Avenue D and Houston streets went before a committee of Community Board 3... They came with renderings of the planned development, which would include 166 studio, 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom apartments, as well as ground-floor retail. A representative for the owner estimated (based on 2011 projections) that the studios (600 sq/ft) would go for about $2800/month. There will also be 34 "affordable units," ranging from $460-$770/per month. The plans call for a 2500 sq/ft roof deck for residents.


In opposition to this proposed development, the Lo-Down quoted Joel Feingold, community organizer for the GOLES, as saying:

"Ave. D is one of the most densely populated public housing areas in the city... It is one of the last refuges on the Lower East Side for working class communities. This will be viewed as an incredibly hostile imposition. This building fits the exact caricature in people's minds of neighborhood loss and change. Despite the 34 units of affordable housing, that's a starting point... I think it's ludicrous to consider putting a building on Avenue D that's all glass and steel and costs $2800 for a studio. I think it's outrageous."



I'll be curious to see how this plays out...As the Times reported back in March 2005:

The frenetic about-face that transformed Alphabet City from a drug-infested no man's land to the epicenter of downtown cool hasn't quite made it to Avenue D, and some predict it never will. Capped at the south by the bustle of Houston Street and at the north by the soaring smokestacks of Con Edison's East River generating station, the 12-block artery remains largely a relic of the neighborhood's pre-hip past.




Previously on EV Grieve:
Will Avenue D finally turn into Avenue C?

12 comments:

  1. "an incredible hostile imposition." well said.

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  2. On a positive note muggings of yuppies on Ave.D seem to be happening more often!

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  3. As someone raising a family on Avenue D, I don't find that so hilarious.

    As far as the empty lot goes, I still miss the Ignacio cuchifritos.

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  4. If someone is willing to throw away $2800 on a studio, why would they want one in this location? I'd like to know what these developers are smoking.

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  5. Yeah, this seems as if it was so purposefully overblown (roof deck!) and outrageous, that any modified version would be much more likely to be accepted.

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  6. Ha..Ha..Ha...I find this hilarious. What person would want to pay such a high amount of rent to live across the streets from the projects! And I being a tenant of one of those projects! Wait till the summer, when they get of taste of the little gangs running to and fro, and music blaring from cars at all hours...you can call the police but they won't come! ha..ha.!

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  7. this is so wrong in so many ways it's ALMOST funny. i also miss ignacios!!! they should call that new building the cuchifrito.. what an awful blight this will be to the neighborhood...

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  8. I grew up there in the 1960's when we were the only (frightened, threatened) white family in the neighborhood). Trust me, anaonymous above aint kidding. The 'people' (really a species below that) are not going to let any normal decent people survive down there without some level of violence/robbery attempts. I pity the fools who move down there.

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  9. can you hear my head exploding? maybe it will be loud enough to break all that glass stalking my nightmares.

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  10. wow you guys are a bunch of jealous babies. people bust their asses at work to be able to afford to live in a beautiful building. don't act like you wouldn't want to live there too if you could--or wouldn't want your kids to live in a nice place--just that you didn't work hard enough to make it--and spend your day blaming it on the rest of society for why you didn't achieve--so instead of congratulating, you act like it's 'ridiculous' to want a roof deck. straight jealousy and envy, people. avenue d is our home and if you don't like it there, stay the hell out

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  11. I grew up in that neighborhood. The projects contain a critical mass of significantly poorer people with different cultural mores who will never change, and who will never leave. A building on D, full of people who can afford nearly 3 large for a 600 square foot apartment is just asking for trouble.

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  12. This is going to be an 80/20 building. I am originally from the LES and want to see how the 80% who r paying top dollar for this real estate are going to react to the 20% paying low income rents (which by the way is closer to 1,100 for a 3 bedroom, of which only ONE is available at that rent) when, let's face it, some lower income people tend to not care about their living conditions and allow their surroundings to go to crap. I believe the selection process will be quite fierce in this new building.

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