9th Street condo project turns former parking garage into construction zone

Top photo from Thursday by William Klayer 

Work picked up last week at the former Little Man Parking garage (aka LaSalle Parking) on Ninth Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

There are partial demolition permits on file with the city. Part of the existing structure will be used (for residential parting!) in the conversion and vertical enlargement of five to six floors for residential use. 

A tipster on the block told us this: 

Workers arrived this past week and began loading materials onto the roof to build scaffolding. By Friday afternoon, the scaffolding had grown to occupy the sidewalk, bike lane, and part of the street.

Back to the tipster: 

Friday evening was chaotic for a while when an MTA bus could not pass the barricades placed on the street to protect the scaffolding. This caused a roadblock, and the cars behind it honked their horns for about 15 minutes. Eventually, the cars and bus all backed out onto Second Avenue, and traffic flowed across Ninth Street again.

The power is off in the building and as of now there are no exterior lights on the sidewalk so a significant portion of the block is pitch black. Traffic can't see the construction site or narrowing of the street until they are right up on it. 

It's not immediately clear what caused the mini traffic jam on Friday. It's possible someone double-parked and left their vehicle unattended. There should be enough room for buses and box trucks to navigate the construction zone.

Meanwhile, expect more scaffolding this week as workers wrap up the structure's remains.

As for background, the new 74-foot-tall building will include 31,231 square feet of residential space, including 18 units and likely condos, as NYY previously pointed out. Per public notices, Colberg Architecture is the architect of record.

According to public records and the TradedNY account, Arcus Development, operating through Astor Nine LLC, is the new owner of the vacant property. 

The garage has been closed since late April 2023 after the Department of Buildings issued a vacate order on the property following the deadly collapse at the Little Man garage on Ann Street in the Financial District. 

Per the DOB vacate order: "The occupied parking structure with concrete framing observed to be in a state of disrepair at several locations in cellar level... crushed column base observed at several locations in cellar level ... vertical cracks observed inside elevator shaft and on masonry walls."

The address was offered as a "redevelopment project" in August 2023. 

Thanks to Steven for sharing photos of the site.