Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
The currently vacant lot on Second Avenue between Second Street and Third Street is now on the market.
The property spans 14,019 square feet, with more than 100,000 buildable square feet, according to the listing from brokerage BKREA.
A zoom-in on the property description:
The Site has been fully demolished and offers 14,019 square feet of lot area with approximately 161feet of prime frontage along Second Avenue. Zoned C6-2A (R8A), the Site permits a residential FAR of 6.02, which can increase to 7.20 through the Universal Affordability Preference (UAP) zoning initiative, yielding a total buildable envelope of approximately 100,936 square feet.The Site will be delivered with 20,468.2 square feet of Inclusionary Housing Certificates, of which a purchaser may deploy 16,543 square feet to unlock fully free-market residential floor area. This bonus floor area increases the free-market residential buildable area to approximately 100,936 square feet, with an additional 3,925.2 square feet that can be sold to a development site within the same community board or within 0.5miles of 42 Second Avenue.
Here's a rendering of a possible development for the site shown on the listing.
Some history: In 2020, Gemini Rosemont spent more than $50 million to assemble the development ... buying the former La Salle annex at 38 Second Ave. and Second Street. The $14.5 million purchase of the four-story building was the third of three contiguous plots they acquired. The commercial real estate investment company closed on 42-44 Second Ave. and 46-48 Second Ave. (the former Church of the Nativity) in March 2020 for $40 million.
However, as The Real Deal first reported in August 2023, the city revoked the building permits after Robert Proto, who owns 50 Second Ave. at Third Street, raised concerns about the development.
Per TRD: "Proto made unceasing calls to officials for weeks, triggering an audit by the Department of Buildings that found code and zoning issues that had initially slipped past the agency."
Gemini later decided to walk away from the project, ultimately putting the assemblage up for sale.
In the new listing for 42 Second Ave., the marketing materials describe a project that has cleared several early hurdles.
According to the "neighbor update" document available when you request more information, the ownership group secured a demolition access agreement with the adjacent property at 50 Second Ave., allowing demolition of the buildings at No. 42.
After demolition, the developers sought to negotiate a construction access agreement with the neighbor. When those discussions stalled, they filed a Section 881 proceeding in New York State Supreme Court — a legal mechanism that allows a developer to seek court-ordered access to a neighboring property when work requires it.
The materials state that the 881 proceeding was later withdrawn in 2023, as ownership began exploring a potential sale of the property.
Two issues with the neighbor were described as still pending: a property-damage claim tied to the demolition phase, which the developers say is being handled through insurance, and a request from the neighbor for reimbursement of professional fees related to the 881 case, to be determined by a court-appointed referee. 
However, in an email with EVG, Proto disputes several aspects of that characterization.
Proto said he raised safety concerns early in the process, arguing that the proposed plans for 42 Second Ave. could pose risks to his property. According to Proto, his building sustained damage during demolition, and he later filed a lawsuit citing alleged breaches of the access agreement. That case is scheduled for trial in April.
He also disputes the claim that the Section 881 case was withdrawn because the property was being marketed for sale. He said the Department of Buildings placed the project plans under audit and revoked the permit after determining the plans were not code-compliant.
Proto maintains that several issues tied to the project remain unresolved and said he intends to continue advocating on behalf of his tenants and his landmarked building.
Previously on EV Grieve:
14 comments:
Here’s hoping this is turned into as much housing as possible. Hate seeing lots that could be housing!
The developer let the buildings just sit and rot on that lot before and during the early pandemic. Once they did knock them down the neighborhood was flooded with rats. Believe Mr. Proto.
Seems like a perfect spot for a church, maybe one with a cool modern brutalist design. Probably enough room for a college building as well.
It's hard to figure out where this housing crisis has come from.
I was "exiled" back to the borough of my birth (Queens) after having spent a a fail number of years downtown as a young man.
LIC in Queens has sprouted up in the past 25 years like Dubai.
NOBODY wanted to live there. "Williamsburg" was where itb was "at".
Luxury housing for jet-setters is not the same as housing people will actually live in.
That’s not how supply and demand works but keep espousing nonsense
I miss ET of the "Mystery Lot", the true guardian of empty lots everywhere!
https://evgrieve.com/2011/04/mystery-lot-is-living-up-to-its-name.html
Housing shortage is fake news. It's a narrative put out there by the real estate industry... to get the city to relax zoning and red tape to build more and denser buildings. The real problem is the actual rent. Middle men, individuals or actual businesses, have entered the market. They rent apartments and sublet them at a higher rent than they pay the actual landlord. So there are apts on the market but it's a rent problem not a scarcity problem.
A recent Pew study found Austin added 120,000 units over 10 years and rents fell most (11%!) in older, cheaper buildings. New supply helps everyone. Would love to see this lot become housing instead of sitting empty another decade.
This would be an ideal location to build a jail exclusively for all of the slumlords in our neighborhood. Jared Kushner & Terrance Lowenberg could be the first honorees. Nothing like a bologna sandwich on stale bread to make you see the evils of your way.
Get Yatrakis in there too.
@cmarty. Your joking right? The vacancy rate is about 1% now. Rents indeed are inflated not due to simple supply and demand, but instead landlord greed and people who are willing to pay. So just adding new units won't drive down rents on there own like it does in a much smaller city like Austin.
When the teacher and students got stumped by a math problem a wino who had been watching thru the window from the street called out that he could do the problem so the teacher invited him into the classroom and the wino taught our math class for the rest of the period.
Chris Brady,LaSalle class of '75
There are 1000s of apts that are being warehoused by NYCHA and 1000's hoarded by private owners. It makes a big difference.
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