Photos by Choresh Wald
News arrived in August 2022 that Meadow Partners was the new owner of 305 E. 11th St. and 310 E. 12th St., adjacent multifamily residential buildings connected by a garden between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
That same August, art critic and longtime building resident Charlie Finch jumped to his death.
Just five days before Finch jumped out of his window, he'd learned the building had been sold to a private-equity firm for $58 million. Finch, a rent-stabilized tenant of the same apartment for 45 years, was despondent and feared that he would soon be out of a home.
And...
Nine months later, some of Finch's biggest fears have come to pass. Dozens of market-rate tenants received notices from the new landlord ... stating that they must leave their apartments... Others have been offered lease renewals with rent increases in the thousands.
The buildings were also the site of a rally for tenant rights back in May.
We have heard very little since then... and missed the news that the building was rebranded as Flora ... 
After a gut renovation and luxurification, a three-bedroom unit via Streeteasy now asks $8,995 (in 2013, the then-two-bedroom home was $4,400). Updated: A reader points out the prices on the Flora website, where three bedrooms are asking $9,750 and $10,100.
Filings at the Department of Buildings also show pending plans for a "vertical enlargement" (aka a sixth floor).
Flora joins another large East Village residential property now owned by a private-equity firm, the recently christened Untitled at 58-72 Avenue A. You can read what's happening there at this link.
The deal for the 89-unit buildings at 305 E. 11th St. and 310 E. 12th St., owned by the Chissick family since the late 1960s, was $58 million.
10 comments:
That rendering of the building without the stored cars in front, the trees, without the ugly Verizon Building behind....
Branded as "luxury" but there is construction debris everywhere, no super (illegal), no fire alarms, etc. It's a shoddy and misleading rebrand. 1 BR are converted to 2BR and sold to new unsuspecting/aloof tenants. Building is completely mismanaged compared to prior ownership. We're happy to host you for a tour.
@7:20am. Change is hard …… even if it’s for the better. Are you angry at the new owner who is renovating the building or the old owners who sold it for $58,000,000? Seems like those are the ones you should be angry with?
@6:42am: The Verizon building offends you aesthetically?! That style is what telephone company buildings have looked like for about the past 100 years, and it's a form-follows-function style. Do you also find hospitals to be ugly?
Charlie rest in Peace-🙏🙏🙏♥️
7:20 am is spot on. I recently moved from the building and just living through the renovation of the lobby was a nightmare, can't imagine what it will be like if they're adding a level. The management is non-responsive, there's no super, the beautiful garden was littered with construction debris by the workers, and noise violations were rampant.
Before the new owners, the building had gorgeous terrazzo tile floors. The new owners covered them with gray linoleum. That tells you about all you need to know about their design choices.
Charging $10,100 for 930 square feet is insane considering the shoddiness of this "renovation".
It sounds like a cheap renovation, passive aggressive harassment of tenants, and a massive money grab with no regard for people. Don’t try to defend evil.
OMG, a three bedroom for 10 grand a month that is 1300 ft.² that’s a misprint right lol
@2017gotham. Facts are facts. It's a cheap reno and they're just cramming more ppl into the same space. Not a huge fan of displacing families to make an IRR, I think there are more noble ways to make a living. Agree seller and buyer are culpable, but buyer is duping ppl like you. Cost aside, the building is unsafe and poorly maintained and the antithesis of luxury.
Do people understand what a really great place they could have for 10K/month, either as a rental in a true luxury building or by buying a place where 10K would cover a mortgage + monthlies?
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