The orders are in to demolish the former Chase branch on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place.
Ahead of that, workers are baiting the building for rats, as you can see from the subtle placements of the baiting stations that arrived on the sidewalk on Wednesday ...
The Commercial Observer reported in August that J.P. Morgan Chase sold the 2-level space to Stellar Management for $12 million. (Stellar and Icon teamed up to buy No. 128 next door.) The former Chase site allows for redevelopment of the 2,380-square-foot site into a mixed-use retail and residential project of 9,520 square feet, according to the Observer.
Icon Realty had been trying to lease the space with an asking monthly rent of $72,000.
The branch consolidated with the Chase two blocks up Second Avenue back in November.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase space on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place is for rent
2 East Village Chase Bank branches are closing for good on Nov. 12
Chase branch on 2nd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has the potential to get 4x larger with new owner
The East Village is down 2 Chase branches
Icon wraps former Chase branch at St. Mark's Place with retail ribbon
'Good riddance' Chase, and — a development to watch in 2016
They must not have tried very hard, cause Pearl River would have been a good choice for this space. Multiple floors and great location at a fraction of their rent. But no... more unnecessary displacement piled atop bloated sale price and construction fees... that's some legacy.
ReplyDeleteI always loved this building, the design is understated but scale and proportions are purely modern. Does anyone know it's history as in architect and original use? Losing this building is terrible especially considering it will be replaced with another shitty building.
ReplyDeleteGood thing they put all the traps. Wouldn't want to have any the bankers escaping into neighboring buildings.
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:30am Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
ReplyDeleteFor me, it is an eyesore exemplifying the worst excesses of later mid 20th century architecture. Ugly box.
@2:30 PM
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect this building is from the 1920's, the fact you believe it to be from the postwar period says something about how progressive a design it is. Don't worry your point of view is what most people share that is why diversity and history doesn't have a chance in New York any longer.
@2:30pm: And you think what's going to replace it will be an improvement?! Seriously?
ReplyDeletePS: I think Icon should not be known as developers. They should rightly be known as a DEMOLITION company: They demolish buildings, and they specialize in demolishing neighborhood stability, people's homes, people's peace of mind, the livelihoods of small business owners, peace & quiet, etc.
Anon 5:11 pm. Thank you for the correction. Always associated 1920's with art deco rather than mid century rectangular whose grasp on building design extends to this day though there seems to be interest in moving to more organic and fluid designs. Anyone visited Oculus yet?
ReplyDeleteThis building actually does have deco lines.
ReplyDeleteWhat we call Art Deco was the modernists movement which took it's inspiration from the radical minimalist designs from the Bauhaus and Weimar architects such as Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and designer Marcel Breuer. The more familiar art deco style was less severe but build upon the work of these modernists masters. Decoration was applied yet it remain rational and based on Geometry. The Chryslers is perhaps the finest Art Deco building we have here but there are still many great examples if you consciously look for them. The former chase building lacks the historical references such as columns and other classical inspired elements which almost all of our tenement building feature. It is these understated 1920's building which are overlooked by most people including preservation's and are constantly being demolished for the schlock building companies like Icon. Every building cannot be saved in a vital city like ours but as with the great movies theaters we lost buildings like this former Chase building will be missed for it's pure modernism and its scale.
ReplyDelete