Hotel Toshi vans make an appearance on 10th Street

An EV Grieve reader passes along these photos from the new Hotel Toshi location at 325 E. 10th St. ... I also hear some neighbors have reached out to the DOB about the legality of a hotel at this address.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Hotel Toshi takes over 325 E. 10th St.

Hotel Toshi takes over 325 E. 10th St.

Last week, we asked, What is going on with 325 E. 10th St.?



At that time, a prospective tenant told us that he had been approved for an apartment in the front building here along this picturesque stretch that faces Tompkins Square Park. Per the tipster: "We were told the entire building was no longer going to be listed for rent. This was while we were in the process of cutting checks for lease signing. Something is up with this building."

And, thanks to another tipster, we know the answer: The front building is apparently now part of the Hotel Toshi empire, the short-term apartment rental network with 18 buildings — totaling some 50 apartments in downtown Manhattan and Williamsburg.




Per the tipster: "The front building at 325 E. 10th St. has been taken over entirely by Hotel Toshi. There is a resident directory in the lobby that confirms this. The rear apts. have individual names but the front building says 'Toshi, Inc., Toshi, Inc., Toshi, Inc' for every unit."

The rear building with the studios will remain residential....

The arrival of a Hotel Toshi in some neighborhoods hasn't always gone so well. In a May story from The Brooklyn Paper titled "Neighbors say Hotel Toshi is a horrorshow hostel":

A hipster hotel that occupies part of a converted loft building in Williamsburg has become such a crash pad that some renters are moving out.

Tenants of a six-story building on Driggs Avenue and S. Fifth Street are accusing the operators of Hotel Toshi of creating a nuisance by allowing their transient guests to throw rowdy late-night parties.

Tenant activism led to the departure of a Hotel Toshi back in June, as NYC the Blog reported.

Curbed has also been covering the various Hotel Toshi sagas through the years. You can read all that here. Perhaps 325 E. 10th St. will become another saga to follow...

So what's going on at 325 E. 10th St.?

Speaking of 325 E. 10th St. ... A reader sent me an e-mail saying that he or she had been in the process of renting an apartment here. That was until the other day.



"After a long application process (for which we were approved) we were told the entire building was no longer going to be listed for rent. This was while we were in the process of cutting checks for lease signing. Something is up with this building. We were given no explanation, and everyone involved felt as if we had been worked over. This deal has been in process all week, and I know personally I felt comfortable enough with how things were moving to not continue looking for apartments. Could be a condo conversion, or a complete sale of the property to a third party ..."

StreetEasy has listings for 12 units here. I sent an agent at Icon Realty Management an e-mail asking if units here were still available. He responded, "Yes, to schedule a viewing, please call me." I sent a follow-up note, ID-ing myself as a blogger, and asked for clarification on what was happening here. I didn't receive a return response. That was last Wednesday.

In any event, while walking by recently, an agent was showing the apartments... the front door was open. And a worker told me that it was OK to walk in and take a look. So I did.



There are two buildings here.... a courtyard separates the two... From what I could tell, the second building contains the studios, which start at $2,000.




Everything in the studios are top of the line, including the washer and dryer... but the studios seem small — even by small East Village studio standards.




...and here's a one-bedroom unit in the front building...





And here are a few photos from the roof of the second building... the "roof decks" are listed as an amenity here. Doesn't seem like much of a party destination — a little too close to the neighbors .... not that that will deter anyone...






Finally, when I looked at the Icon site last night, there weren't any units listed here now. The jilted renter thinks that the second building is still on the market, but not the front building. So, what's going on with 325 E. 10th St.? This is a story that's likely to be continued...