On Avenue D: 'You leavin'?'

A man walked south on Avenue D ... he stopped along the way to ask acquaintances a question ... You leavin'? Responses: No, Fuck No and We're staying.

Stalled development site on Eighth Street and Avenue D asking $5.2 million

Here at 401 E. Eighth St. at Avenue D, this empty lot has sat, uh, empty for years. The DOB OK'd permits for a six-story building in 2006. But those plans never materialized. We last checked in on the space in February 2010.

And now (and above)...

However, there's activity again at this address. Eastern Consolidated is now marketing 397-401 E. Eighth St. Here's the news release that they issued:

A 4,324-square-foot vacant residential development site in Manhattan’s East Village that could accommodate an 11-story, 25,955-square-foot building, is on the market for sale through Eastern Consolidated. Situated only 50 feet from Avenue D, the L-shaped irregular site is priced at $5.2 million.

Eastern Consolidated’s Senior Director and Principal Alan P. Miller with Senior Financial Analyst Paul Nigido are co-marketing 397-401 East 8th Street with Lee Odell Real Estate Inc., on behalf of seller Samtel East 8th Street LLC.

“The East Village is booming,” noted Mr. Miller. “The neighborhood has become a very trendy enclave, particularly for young people, offering a wide variety of ethnic restaurants, boutiques and specialty shops. This site offers 67 feet of frontage on East 8th Street, and new construction is taking place directly across the street and just south on Avenue D.”

[Updated: Didn't realize that Sam Chang bought this lot back in 2007... Curbed has those details here ... and here...]

By the way, thanks to a link from EV Grieve reader Adam A., we know how the address looked in 1923... also vacant...

[Via NYPL]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Meanwhile, before we christen Avenue D the next Greenpoint...

About the newspaper article in the Chez Betty Cafe front window

So C has taken over the Chez Betty Cafe space on East Third Street near Avenue C. Had never been inside, but I looked at the cafe's front window quite a bit... where there was an article from the Times on display. With one passage blacked out. (Later, someone placed a Yelp sticker over this.)




I always wondered what passage someone had blacked out. So I looked up the article. The piece is from March 2005:

At Chez Betty, a sumptuously decorated cafe that opened last May on East Third Street just off Avenue C, Shilat Erbibou froths milk for cappuccinos and serves delicate salads. She has befriended the bohemian-chic models who live around the corner, and watched students from Cooper Union and New York University bring wary parents who come to check out the neighborhood and are comforted by Avenue C's growing charm.

But Avenue D, the next thoroughfare to the east? As far as Ms. Erbibou is concerned, it could be a hundred miles away.

"I haven't been to Avenue D," she said with a shrug. "I don't think there's a future there."

65 Avenue D on the market — with or without ground-floor church

Massey Knakal has a new listing for 65 Avenue D. According to the listing:

A 19' wide, 4 story, mixed-use building. The building is approximately 3,136 square feet and has approximately 7,364 BSF of air rights remaining. Currently the ground floor and lower level are used as church facility space; the 3rd and 4th floors are floor through apartments which are renovated. The fourth floor is currently rented for $2,626/month until June 2012, but the entire building could potentially be delivered vacant.

Of course! The price: $2.1 million.

Report: Fire destroys apartment in the Jacob Riis Houses

Patrick Hedlund at DNAinfo reports that a fire broke out last night around 11:30 inside a sixth-floor apartment in the Jacob Riis Houses on 10th Street and Avenue D. Sixty firefighters responded to the fire, getting it under control by 12:16 p.m. According to the DNA story:

No one was hurt in the blaze, and the cause is still under investigation, the FDNY said.

Paola Gutierrez, 24, of Brooklyn said the apartment belongs to her 59-year-old grandmother, who hasn't lived there in almost a year since she had to check into the hospital for unspecified ailments.

[Photo by Patrick Hedlund/DNAinfo]

Snow scenes from the FDR and Avenue D

EV Grieve roving Blizzard reporter Bobby Williams noted the condition of the FDR (at Sixth Street) this evening around 5:15ish...

...while a police car seems to be abandoned on Avenue D....

Looking at the new Avenue D greenstreet

Yesterday, we looked at the new greenstreet coming to First Street off Avenue A and East Houston Street ... all part of the three-year East Houston Street construction job expected to last through the summer of 2013... A greenstreet is also planned at Avenue D... so you will no longer be able to hit Second Street going 60 MPH off Houston...




This intersection will likely look a whole lot different in three years or so... especially if that new development in the planning stages actually happens...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Avenue D's future

Coming soon to East Houston: Construction, hell, rodent control stations

Long-threatened East Houston reconstruction starting this month

Construction under way for new Lower Eastside Girls Club home

On Avenue D between Seventh Street and Eighth Street... read about about it here.






I also meant to mention Celebrate Café, which operates inside the Bowery Poetry Club... The Lower Eastside Girls Club runs the Café as an entrepreneurial and job training program that employs local youth and young adults. They just had their official grand opening... BoweryBoogie has more here...

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Lower Eastside Girls Club's "urban paradise" closer to reality

Construction for new Lower Eastside Girls Club home starts next week

The Lower Eastside Girls Club is prepping for the groundbreaking next week of its new home (Center for Community) on Avenue D...

As the flyer shows, there's a meeting this Tuesday night at the Jacob Riis Community Center, 80 Avenue D, between Sixth Street and Seventh Street.

A detailed presentation will be made about the construction timeline and neighborhood impact as well as information about the upcoming Girls Club programs.

Questions can be submitted in advance to:
building@girlsclub.org

For more information, go here.

Meanwhile, as we've covered here before, here's a look at the new home:




Among other things, the new building will include:

We are expanding our successful entrepreneurial social venture businesses, The Sweet Things Baking Company and Community Café, with the construction of a Culinary Education Center and commercial kitchen. These programs offer job training and opportunities for teenage girls and neighborhood women. The kitchen will also serve as a classroom for nutrition education and meet in-house food service needs. A courtyard filled with flowers, an outdoor fountain designed by artist Kiki Smith, and café tables will provide a unique oasis for dining and quiet events.

And!

In the Fair Trade Gift Shop and Book Store, items from cooperatives around the world share shelf space with girl-made crafts and artwork. Our public market space will be a home for our Farmers Market Center, simultaneously supporting New York State farmers and our community's health.

And!

A portion of this new facility will be devoted to public programming and the arts. The “Girls Out Loud” Internet Radio Station is the site for live programming, podcasting, and digital journalism activities. Simultaneously, girls will be taking their digital film, photography and IT courses, while school classes and the general public participate in film festivals and screening events in the Screening Room. The Art + Community Gallery, site of LESGC’s teen curatorial training programs, will act as a venue for a wide range of art exhibitions.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Lower Eastside Girls Club's "urban paradise" closer to reality

Listing appears for Houston and Avenue D development

Back in January, the Lo-Down broke the story about a new development (with a roof deck! and $2,800 studios!) coming to Houston and Avenue D... They had a follow-up on the scoop in February, reporting:

The developer, whose name was not disclosed, intends to build on the corner of Houston and Avenue D. There would be 166 rental apartments, 34 of them affordable. This past Tuesday evening, CB3 accepted the committee’s recommendation to approve the deal, with 18 voting yes and 11 voting no.

Anyway, I stumbled upon the ground floor retail listing the other day at Robert K. Futterman & Associates (RKF) ...



Per the listing...:

approximate size
Ground Floor - 9,711 sf
Basement - 4,816 sf

rent
Upon request

frontage
120 feet on Avenue D
70 feet on East Houston Street

term
Long term

possession
Fourth Quarter 2011

neighboring tenants
Banco Popular, Capital One, Duane Reade, FedEx Office, Dunkin Donuts, Subway and Baskin-Robbins

comments
- Brand new 180-unit luxury residential rental building
- High ceilings
- Over 12,000 apartment units within a five-block radius
- In close proximity to Tompkins Square Park



Possession by the end of next year? Seems awfully ambitious, but OK... The "neighboring tenants" mostly seem to be the ones at Red Square or One Avenue B... obviously only chain stores could afford the asking prices for retail here... this will be a development that many people will continue to watch...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Avenue D's future

Updated: Man shot and killed on Avenue D

A 33-year-old man was shot in the face and killed today just after noon on Avenue D at East Third Street, according to WPIX. Police have not made any arrests and are still looking for the gunman.

Here's an updated report from WPIX...which reminds me why I never watch local network TV news...is this reporter for real?

 

Updated: The Daily News this morning has more on the fatal shooting:

A 33-year-old father with a violent past was shot in the face and killed in the East Village on Monday, police said.

Bahiem Covington was brazenly gunned down in broad daylight on Avenue D and E. Fourth St. just moments after crossing guard Carla Ortega left for a bathroom break, cops said.

"He was a sweet guy . . . a peacemaker," said a woman who identified herself as Covington's sister. "He wasn't into violence."

The woman, who didn't want her name used, said Covington had two children.

"He was a caring father," she added. "My brother's dead. This has to stop."

Witnesses told cops they saw four men running from the scene. No one has been arrested, but sources said investigators were analyzing surveillance video from a nearby deli.

It was unclear why Covington, who has prior arrests for assault and criminal possession of a weapon, was targeted.

Report: Ex-con stabbed to death outside Lillian Wald Houses on Avenue D

According to the Daily News today, a man was stabbed to death outside the Lillian Wald Houses on Avenue D:

One ex-con stabbed another to death outside a Manhattan housing project Tuesday night after their feuding female companions crossed paths, police sources said.

Cops believe Louis Dawson, 34, chased down Luis Johnson, 29, outside a building in the Lillian Wald Houses on the lower East Side about 7:50 p.m. and plunged a knife into his neck, chest and heart, the sources said.

"He stabbed him again and again," said witness Mario Hernandez, 37, of Manhattan. "There was much blood."

According to the NYCHA: Lillian Wald Houses has 16 buildings 10, 11, 13 and 14-stories tall with 1,857 apartments housing an estimated 4,536 residents. Completed Oct. 14, 1949, the 16.46-acre complex is between F.D.R. Drive, Avenue D, East Sixth and East Houston Streets.

More floors for Seventh Street and Avenue D

In his Mixed Used column this week in The Villager, Patrick Hedlund reports that 91 Avenue D at the southwest corner of Seventh has sold for $1.32 million (or $443 per square foot!) ...

To the story:

The buyer purchased the 2,982-square-foot building, which features about 2,400 additional square feet of air rights, as an investment property and plans to construct additional floors, according to Phillip Huang, a senior associate at Massey Knakal.

"I think that those smaller deals are just getting a ton of interest now," he said, adding that the site, located on the fringes of the East Village next to large housing projects, generated about 10 offers in two months on the market.

And later:

With properties selling for "under a million and a half, $2 million, you get a lot of people who probably were looking at residential [units] and now they're looking at some cheaper buildings," Huang added.

Uh-huh.

Looks as if this block will be getting spruced up. The new home of the Lower Eastside Girls Club will be built on Avenue D between Seventh Street and Eighth Street. (This 12-story building -- a new development that will actually give something back to the neighborhood -- will include a community center and 72 apartments.) According to a recent column by Scoopy, the Girls Club will be breaking ground in April.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Will Avenue D finally turn into Avenue C?

Meanwhile, before we christen Avenue D the next Greenpoint...

At 401 E. Eighth St. just a few steps off Avenue D, a new six-story apartment building was slated to go up in this lot...



However, the lot appears to be abandoned now... I haven't seen any activity here in months...




Shiming Tam Architects are listed with the DOB. A search of their site doesn't turn up any plans for this space.

And some photos of the lot from this past October...Because, dear reader, I enjoy nothing more than taking photos of empty lots.

Avenue D's future

Back in July 2008, the building at Avenue D and Houston came down...




Now an empty lot waits for the inevitable development...






And any proposed development could grow with the closure of the Pioneer Supermarket...



Well, according to the Lo-Down, this is the new building in the works for this space:



As the Lo-Down reported:

Developers of a proposed apartment building envisioned on the northwest corner of Avenue D and Houston streets went before a committee of Community Board 3... They came with renderings of the planned development, which would include 166 studio, 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom apartments, as well as ground-floor retail. A representative for the owner estimated (based on 2011 projections) that the studios (600 sq/ft) would go for about $2800/month. There will also be 34 "affordable units," ranging from $460-$770/per month. The plans call for a 2500 sq/ft roof deck for residents.

In opposition to this proposed development, the Lo-Down quoted Joel Feingold, community organizer for the GOLES, as saying:

"Ave. D is one of the most densely populated public housing areas in the city... It is one of the last refuges on the Lower East Side for working class communities. This will be viewed as an incredibly hostile imposition. This building fits the exact caricature in people's minds of neighborhood loss and change. Despite the 34 units of affordable housing, that's a starting point... I think it's ludicrous to consider putting a building on Avenue D that's all glass and steel and costs $2800 for a studio. I think it's outrageous."



I'll be curious to see how this plays out...As the Times reported back in March 2005:

The frenetic about-face that transformed Alphabet City from a drug-infested no man's land to the epicenter of downtown cool hasn't quite made it to Avenue D, and some predict it never will. Capped at the south by the bustle of Houston Street and at the north by the soaring smokestacks of Con Edison's East River generating station, the 12-block artery remains largely a relic of the neighborhood's pre-hip past.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Will Avenue D finally turn into Avenue C?

The Wacky Wok opens on Avenue D

The Wacky Wok opened on Avenue D and Ninth Street last week. According to their menu, "Healthy food is our priority: using healthy oils, house-made sauce without preservatives, organically grown ingredients, wild fish, free-range meats and poultry whenever possible." (Their emphasis.) Their motto: "Discovering Asia through the flavors."

WW has a tofu Caesar salad ($5.50), a wacky burger with Korean BBQ sauce ($6) and Asian banana split ($4), among many other things...

Will Avenue D finally turn into Avenue C?

The three-story building that houses the bodega on the southeast [OOPS! SouthWEST] corner of Seventh Street and Avenue D is now for sale for $1.4 million...



According to the listing:

91 Avenue D is a 3 story mixed-use building that is available through an estate sale. There is one store and two residential units. The two apartments are currently vacant while the lease on the ground floor expires in June of 2011. The store is currently paying well below market rent. It is perfect for a user looking for a space to run their business and expand in the future.

This is a tremendous opportunity to buy an investment property with future development potential on a prime corner in the East Village. It is located in one of the most densely populated areas in Manhattan and benefits from the heavy pedestrian traffic.

This is interesting for many reasons. For starters, the new home of the Lower Eastside Girls Club will be built on Avenue D between Seventh Street and Eighth Street. (This 12-story building -- a new development that will actually give something back to the neighborhood -- will include a community center and 72 apartments.)



And, just around the corner on Seventh, you'll find the Flowerbox Building, where the record-breaking $10 million penthouse recently closed for $5.2 million.



Perhaps some enterprising foodie type will nab this corner spot at Seventh and D for some signature-drinks outpost... and be ahead of the pack for the day when the condofication reaches the eastern edge of the neighborhood. Or maybe some luxury housing.

Could this finally be the start of Avenue D turning into the new Avenue C?

Of course, this speculation has been going on for years... As the Times noted in March 2005:

The frenetic about-face that transformed Alphabet City from a drug-infested no man's land to the epicenter of downtown cool hasn't quite made it to Avenue D, and some predict it never will. Capped at the south by the bustle of Houston Street and at the north by the soaring smokestacks of Con Edison's East River generating station, the 12-block artery remains largely a relic of the neighborhood's pre-hip past.

There is nary a bar in sight. Not a single boutique. The handful of restaurants serve tostones and chicharones, not goat cheese tapas or tuna tartare. Tough-looking boys hold tough-looking pit bulls at the end of steel chains, mothers push shopping carts to coin laundries, and wrinkled old men in newsboy caps putter in front of the grocery store, keeping a cagey eye on the street.

Still, recent rumors about the fate of the two sprawling public housing projects on the avenue has fueled broader speculation about the avenue's future. Now that Avenue C has become what Avenue A was a decade ago, many residents of Avenue D wonder if their street will become the new Avenue C.

[Flowerbox photo: Elizabeth Felicella for The New York Times]

Car plows into ConEd gates on Avenue D

Just after 5 this evening, a car crashed into the ConEd fence at the dead end of Avenue D at 12th Street.




There were several accounts of what happened. One tipster noted that the car had been driving north on Avenue D with its hazards on before crashing into the fence. On the scene, one witness thought the car had clipped a van before coming to a halt at the fence. Yet someone else thought the driver simply made a mistake and kept going straight at the dead end.



In any event, nothing really sinister afoot here. The woman driving the car was in a great deal of discomfort. She was simply visiting her mother who lives nearby.