Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Why yes, the new building at 280 E. Houston St. does look quite enormous

We've heard from several readers about 280 E. Houston St., the in-progress 12-story mixed-use building on the north side between Avenue A and Avenue B that seems to get bigger by the day.

The comments are mainly of the "this building is enormous" variety, especially given the one-level strip of storefronts that was here for nearly 30 years (and a gas station before that). 

Here are a few views for you — from south on Suffolk Street...
As noted, the new building encompasses 224,809 square feet of space — for residential, commercial and community use. The residential portion will total 211,028 square feet for 157 apartments, per DOB records. The retail section will feature 12,000 square feet, while the community facility is 1,300 square feet.

In July, Gothamist reported that the construction company, which has ties to Mayor Adams, illegally started work on the building before obtaining the essential permits. 

The parcel previously housed a single-level strip of storefronts that several years ago either relocated closer to the residential building at No. 250 E. Houston St. (Kapri Cleaners and the FedEx Office Print & Ship Center) or closed (Dunkin'/Baskin-Robbins, Subway, Mattress Firm and China Town).

The elongated trapezoidal lot housed a gas station until about 1987. This post from 2016 includes a photo of it.

Prep work (plywood, pedestrian barriers, etc.) started in February 2023. According to the rendering, the completion date is now February 2025.
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2 comments:

  1. MarkSeptember 10, 2024 at 12:45 PM

    This building will hopefully usher new life into our neighborhood. That stretch of land before was barren, depressing, and outdated. It was time for an upgrade. At the very least there will be a certain number of units allocated towards affordable housing. Just trying to look at the bright side of things.

    ReplyDelete
  2. XTCSeptember 11, 2024 at 12:10 PM

    Looks like a cross between a giant art installation by the late artist Christo and a massive hive of insects.

    ReplyDelete

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