Workers are wrapping up a third full year of gut renovations at 180 Second Ave. between 11th Street and 12th Street... that's almost three years of a blocked bike lane and a section of Second Avenue ... not to mention a sidewalk bridge blocking out the light for sidewalk cafes at the restaurants on either side of the building — Pangea on the right and Cacio e Pepe on the left.According to the previously approved work permits on file with the city, workers are converting the building to residential use and adding two floors — from five to seven — in the process. Permits show that there will be one residential unit on each floor. (Condos?)
Not sure why this is taking so long. The extra floors aren't even in view after all this time. As previously reported, dating to June 2017, the building was designed to earn LEED Platinum and Passive House certification, complete with a green roof with solar hot water panels for each residential unit.
The Chicago-based Polish National Alliance was the previous owner of No. 180. The building housed the Józef Pilsudski Institute of America, which is the largest Polish-American research institution specializing in the recent history of Poland and Central Eastern Europe. (They found a new home in Greenpoint.) An LLC bought the building for $6.75 million in June 2014, per public records. City Realty listed the new owner as Robert Stern.
As for the ground-floor retail space, the Ninth Ward was the previous tenant. That New Orleans-themed bar closed in February 2016. The Ninth Ward was said to be returning to this space after the gut renovations, but that was in mid-2017.
Previously on EV Grieve:
With building by building being torn down, turned into hideousness,
ReplyDeleteabsurd rents,
- will NYC be left only for the rich ?
The community board has nothing to say about these
ugly buildings ?
The Community Boards of NY are advisory in nature only, they have no real power. There is nothing they can do. If the Landmarks "Preservation" (and I use the term loosely) Committee, which is a city agency that DOES have the power, does nothing, what is a CB supposed to do?
ReplyDeletePlan on another three years til completion. LAME!!
ReplyDeleteI was told that they developed/discovered structural problems at the foundation level re: adding extra floors. I seriously hope the developer goes bust on this; they are completely disrespectful of all the people who live adjacent, and they are damaging the business of both Pangea and Cacio & Pepe.
ReplyDeleteI know Pangea has been very much affected. Pangea is effectively "hidden" by all this unsightly construction stuff.
There should be a legal limit to how long these things can take, and after that there should be a $$$$ per DAY penalty, payable to the adjacent residential & commercial tenants.
Hey Grieve. The reason it is taking so long is because AFTER they started the job, the construction guys discovered that the entire foundation of the building was rotted. So they had to excavate the entire basement and re-enforce the foundation. The owner's of this building are morons and should've figured this out before they started. The construction crew has zero regard for the neighboring shops who are struggling to survive. A couple of months ago these clowns started parking some sort of huge tractor like vehicle in front of my store blocking my entryway. The only reason it was removed was because I did what I had to do to make sure it was removed. Meaning I did not use the traditional methods of calling DOB and DOT. 3 years for two floors? What do you gain from the two floors? Meanwhile all of us have lost tons of business.
ReplyDeleteBetween the unsightly scaffolding everywhere and new buildings being erected in Manhattan during the never ending pandemic so it seems, sometimes you wonder if all this have any meaning at the end.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the rich in NYC, many of them are now camping out in the Hamptons or the Hudson Valley. The 2nd homes are now their primary homes and Manhattan is their 2nd home.
Will the tables have turned in let's say a year from now?