500 and 524 E. 14th St. look to have some construction company soon enough.
Over at the former Mary Help of Christians property, the lot is waiting for a new retail-residental building with frontage on Avenue A, East 11th Street and East 12th Street.
As we first reported, the permits that developer Douglas Steiner's reps filed with the city in October 2013 called for a 7-story, 158-unit 164,720-square-foot structure. The U-shaped building would offer rentals (and a rooftop swimming pool).
However, Steiner's reps told Community Board 3 in February that the residential complex, which would feature 22 affordable units designated as Inclusionary Housing, will now go as market-rate condos. (Several community leaders confirmed that the residences will hit the market as condos.)
The city approved (or at least partially approved) most of the required permits for the project last month. The square footage is now 107,000 for the residential portion, 8,376 for the retail and 961 for the community facility, per city documents. The 6-floor building will house 82 dwelling units and a pool on a lower level.
Meanwhile, last week, local residents spotted Steiner and a group of people walking the site…
[Photo by Meri Micara]
Previously on EV Grieve:
New residential complex at former Mary Help of Christians lot may include rooftop swimming pool
Meet your new neighbor on Avenue A
Permits filed to demolish Mary Help of Christians church, school and rectory
Preservationists call for archeological review of former cemetery at Mary Help of Christians site
The 'senseless shocking self-destruction' of Mary Help of Christians
Residences rising from the former Mary Help of Christians lot will now be market-rate condos
Yeah De BlasEo The Invisible Mayor (as he has shown his face in public less than the previous four NYC mayors) is sure building affordable housing boy.
ReplyDeleteHats off to the church for selling this land to a developer and not the city. Hats off to the city for not making an attempt to buy the land for affordable housing.
I'm not voting for De Blasio again and I hope he's a one term mayor. We need a progressive mayor not Bloomberg Lite (De Blasio.)
The city needs more affordable housing based on a Mitchell-Lama cooperative model. Cooperators pay a relatively affordable price to obtain an apartment; enough to guarantee a degree of commitment to the cooperative, yet attainable by middle income people.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if I am the only one that is bugged by the fact that New York City has 150 acres of land that can never be built on for permanent housing aka Governor's Island?
ReplyDeleteNew York City is not interested in building it's own affordable housing witness how parts of NYCHA will be given to developers in exchange for them to agree to build a certain percentage of affordable housing. I guess developers who have been building high rent luxury condos to the rescue.
ReplyDeleteHow is it possible that after all the mayor's talk about affordable housing, this development can be built without one affordable apartment? Is there any way to get that changed before construction begins? Is it worth it to email the mayor's office with a link to this post? I think I will try it.
ReplyDeleteSteiner returns to the scene of the crime.
ReplyDeleteThis used to be the best quiet little section of Ave A. It was always an interesting vibe here, between the weekend flea market and Bar on A. Now you have 7-11 and this monstrosity going up. So goddamn depressing to see what's happened to the EV.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they realize they are walking all over a cemetery? They probably wouldn't care even if they did.
ReplyDeleteToo bad Dougie didn't slip in the big hole he left in the ground where the Church and school used to be.
ReplyDeleteAm never voting for De Blasio again for anything. He is NOT interested in doing anything that would upset his real estate buddies.
ReplyDeleteSOMEONE powerful needs to be in favor of building genuinely affordable (by ordinary working people) housing in Manhattan; I wonder how many generations it will take before such a person might be in a position of power?
Meanwhile, we're just screwed, esp. in the East Village, which might as well be re-named Drunk Town. Regardless of whether they're renters or owners, we're screwed.
The fabric of the neighborhood is in shreds as more & more of those renters who "live" here are truly transients - they put down no roots, and they don't care about anything other than partying & the easy availability of alcohol. In a year or two, these people move on, and the next batch of "But Mom & Dad, I just HAVE to live in the East Village" frat-boys moves in.
The other nouveaux are the trendoids who need to OWN a condo (with a pool, and the requisite rooftop for partying). I wonder how many buyers of these future condos at the St. Mary Help of Christians site would ever bother to go to a community board meeting, or in any way contribute positively to the neighborhood? I suspect they'll just go to their glossy offices and come home to their glossy condos; these owners will be the people working for Facebook, etc.
To sum up: NYC doesn't care, the landlords don't care, and the transient drunk-tards don't care. What a shitshow, and what a shame.
The East Village deserves better.
10:01,
ReplyDeleteI agree completely, but we won't be seeing any Mitchell-Lama coops in any scale in the near future. Because they benefit the wrong people (the working middle and upwardly mobile middle class).
DeBlasio has been completely transparent in his beliefs. All resources will go towards the top 5% and the bottom 30/50% of households (by income). He needs the top 5% for tax revenue and the bottom 30/50% for votes. The working/middle class is SOL. His comments on issues like Stuyvesant High admissions go along with this.
This is going to get loud. I am in one of the pictured buildings where Allen Ginsberg and Arthur Russell used to live. My view of the church and all the great birds that would hang brought me so much joy. Then, that was destroyed. And silver lining I have now an amazing open view to see so much sky. Yet here we go and I'll have a bunch of young professional couples splitting the $4,000 / month rent to stare at. Sigh.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous 5:12pm - these people don't care about history, just look at them standing there dreaming of the ugly monstrosity they will dump on the lot. If they cared anything about the history of this community they would never have purchased this in the first place. I hope the ghosts from the burial ground rise up and haunt them forever in their dreams
ReplyDeleteAs bad it luxury condos will be, it's better than a church.
ReplyDeleteEverybody I know who lives in a Mitchell-Lama project sublets their tax-payer subsidized apartment at a huge profit. F*ck Them ALL.
ReplyDeleteWalter, that might say something about your acquaintences. Of all the people I know in Mitchell-Lama buildings, only one has ever sublet her apartment and it was during a two week vacation she took and was sublet to a friend's dad who was visiting. All the others I know live there year round.
ReplyDeleteMy anecdotes, your anecdotes. Obviously enforcement of rules is important, but it isn't everyone.
I think Steiner is the one with with no hair in the background, the rest are minions and the women are at the bottom of the barrel. Ominous image.
ReplyDeleteThe photograph in many ways is representative of everything that has dramatically changed the neighborhood that we once knew. Steiner surveys the land which will only serve the one percent. Having destroyed something that served everyone in the neighborhood the flea market was a place that everyone from the neighborhood frequented. From collectors to the vendors to residents looking for a bargain.
ReplyDeleteWalter: Obviously, there will always be those who abuse the system, but Mitchell-Lama as a housing model is a good one.
ReplyDeleteIt allows middle income people to buy shares when their incomes are relatively low and stay as their incomes grow, with surcharges based on income.
Apartment inspections have been instituted so as to determine who is occupying the apartments. With proper scrutiny, hopefully, deadbeats may be eliminated.
An atheist can appreciate the architecture of a church. Its replacement will likely not be an aesthetic improvement.
ReplyDelete