On Avenue B, a there-goes-the-neighborhood building sells for $43 million

Photo by Stacie Joy 

The Villager, the 6-story apartment building that anchors the NW corner of Avenue B and Second Street, has a new owner. 

According to TradedNY, Skyline Developers sold the 61-unit complex at 194 E. Second St. to Benchmark Real Estate Group for $43 million. 

The building's completion in 1997 was seen by some as an (another) end-of-an-era/there-goes-the-neighborhood moment. (In reporting on the sale this week, Crain's called this a "Neighborhood-defining East Village rental.") 

Previously, this corner was home to a gas station... shooting gallery ... and then, for a 10-year run, The Gas Station, aka Art Gallery Space 2B (or Space 2B Art Yard), a freewheeling arts and events space.

Per the Times:

For 10 years, the Gas Station, with its towering sculpture built from discards ranging from a 1970 Plymouth Valiant to department store mannequins to television sets, has been a symbol of the Lower East Side's Bohemian ways and artistic resolve.

Alex at Flaming Pablum has written about the Gas Station and this part of its history:

The Gas Station is probably most notorious for being the site of the final, calamitous performance by G.G. Allin & the Murder Junkies. After the show in question ended in a riot (not an atypical situation for the Geeg), Allin tromped off into the East Village afternoon with some new friends, only to overdose on smack later that evening, undermining his oft-stated intention to kill himself onstage.

The Gas Station was cleared out in 1996.

An aerial view of 2B by LeoLondon from 1993.

A WTF reaction to the abrupt closure of a rooftop deck on East 2nd Street

Word came down last Thursday that the roof deck at 194 E. Second St. at Avenue B had closed EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.

Management didn't offer any explanation. Apparently this has not been a popular decision, especially with the arrival of summer.

One perturbed resident moved in several years ago with the promise of amenities such as the rooftop deck. (Other amenities haven't really panned out, such as the fitness center, "a few machines in a smelly unfinished basement," according to the tenant.)

"The roof is the main reason we signed our leases. It was the first thing brokers show you when they try to lease the apartment. It has beautiful views. I like to think it is part of our building culture and community," the resident says.

Landlord Skyline Developers had advertised the amenity on their website, though has since removed it.



The resident admits that this roof closure is insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but people feel cheated here. "I pay my rent with the knowledge that I will have access to our roof."