More prep work for incoming St. Mark's Place office building

With Phase 1 underway and non-essential construction sites firing up again, there's activity to note on the northeast corner of Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

You may have noticed that workers have now blocked the sidewalk with a second level of plywood in front of where the 10-floor boutique office building will rise ...







However, as you can see through the blogger portal on the plywood, there's nothing going on inside the lot (yet).



And it has remained this way during the COVID-19 crisis.


[A rendering of 3 St. Mark's Place]

Where we left off on March 5: Local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera had joined the chorus of opposition to the air-rights transfer for the new building. Rivera, who holds the key vote when the proposal comes before City Council, had previously expressed concerns about the project, but hadn't gone as far as officially opposing it.

During the City Planning Commission hearing on March 4, Rivera submitted joint testimony with Assemblymember Deborah Glick and State Sen. Brad Hoylman.

The City Planning Commission will cast their vote at a later date as part of the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. They are expected to approve the plan to transfer air rights from the landmarked 4 St. Mark's Place to the new development across the street at 3 St. Mark's Place. In issues such as this, City Council usually follows the lead of the local Councilmember.

With the air-rights transfer, developer Real Estate Equities Corporation (REEC) would be allowed to build 8,386 square feet larger than the current zoning allows.

Regardless of an extra 8,000 square feet, the construction will eventually continue. As Gothamist reported in early March, the project's architect, Morris Adjmi, emphasized a building of a similar height size could be built as-of-right.

REEC picked up the 99-year leasehold for the properties here for nearly $150 million in November 2017. The corner lot is owned by the Gabay family.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• Demolition permits filed for northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

• End is nearing for the businesses on the northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

• New building plans revealed for 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

• Concern over potential air-rights transfer for new office building on St. Mark's Place and 3rd Avenue