The funding for the proposed Harlem Hyatt at Lenox and 125th Street will be starting its initial approval phase with a public hearing of city agencies and the local community. The Wall Street Journal reports that the New York City Capital Resource Corporation, "a local development corporation controlled by Mayor Michael Bloomberg," will be reviewing the community benefits and wages that the new hotel will provide. The goal is to get community approval for the $20 million tax exempt bonds that the project needs to get off the ground. Part of the proposal now has a planned Whole Foods at the lower two floors, and a YMCA will reside on most of the third and fourth levels of the future 200-room hotel.Folks might remember that in recent news, some major city projects have been thrown out the window because higher than minimum wages were demanded as part of the community benefits, so this might be an issue for developing the Hyatt. A subscription will be needed for the WSJ article to be read in full: LINK. Read more about past minimum wage issues and city projects in the NY Daily News: LINK. So if you want this to happen, come to tomorrow's public hearing/community review downtown, Friday, June 4th, 10:00 AM at 110 Williams Street (Cross Street Fulton St), 4th Floor, Room 4 A/B. Closest subways to get this location are the 2, 3 or the A,C . Photo by Ulysses
Well, completion of this would be massive for the community for obvious reasons. Didn't realize that minimum wage does not always apply. Any idea how long it will take for full approval? Don't these guys need to start building in 2010?
ReplyDeleteGood point Ulysses, Harlemites who want progress should show their support at Friday’s community review meeting.
ReplyDeleteI heard about the Whole Foods, of course but the YMCA is a new one on me. I'd think something more touristy would be appropriate.
ReplyDelete@Chris: the minimum wage issue killed a major project in the Bronx recently. The politicos demanded that the retail chain in the development all pay 10 dollars an hour. The project developers balked and nothing got built.
Yeah, the YMCA for me seems a little strange. I feel like this is one of the prime real estate corners of Harlem and agree with Vic, there ought to be something a little more touristy in place. Alternatively, at least another store of some kind. Then again, I haven't used a YMCA, so maybe it will offer something to the community to help get this done.
ReplyDeleteIt would be considered the community cultural center of the development. Most big projects have to have a cultural center as part of the deal. Not really a profit thing.
ReplyDeleteYes a community cultural element is required, and a YMCA would definitely benefit the community.
ReplyDeleteSo would a grocery store. And a hotel. They benefit the community a great deal.
ReplyDeleteA Y would be phenomenal, esp for the kids of the community.
ReplyDeleteHell, I'd put up with another methadone clinic if it had a whole foods under it.
ReplyDeletejust read the following on Curbed:
ReplyDelete'It faces a local development corporation hearing tomorrow, and City Comptroller John Liu, Council Member Inez Dickens, and others have already expressed "concerns." Such as? The fact that the financing application is full of blanks! Says Liu: "Looking at it for two seconds leads you to wonder if all applications for $20 million of financing have a similar appearance."'
Full of blanks...eh?
the whole project hinges on OPM for all involved (Other People's Money) from all I can see with no named entity willing to put real skin in the game. usually endeavors like this end up swindling the city of money while nothing ever gets built.
ReplyDeletereal developments, viable sought after developments have all i's dotted, all t's crossed, none of this "blank" nonsense. they are specific, precise, zero unknowns.
unspecific undefined investors, could be faux entirely, all in efforts to swindle millions from the tax payer. this hall all the ear markings the way is conjures emotion and hope, who does not want to see this? no one.
sorry, too many gaps, holes, for this to be real even today, plus has all the earmarkings of an classic rouse to fleece the city of millions, commit nothing, nothing ever gets built, a few people the contrived the rouse split the millions they bamboozled the city out of on the front end.
anon @12:29pm, I am trying to make sense of your post. You seemed to start off fairly well, but then it dwindles into garbled nonsense! But, yes, I am a little bit confused about the 'blanks'. I really do hope this is the real deal.
ReplyDeleteThe blanks are a little strange but keep in mind it's hard to have everything specified when one needs community approval, etc.
ReplyDeleteEmmitt Smith does in fact have a real estate fund - it's called Smith Cypress partners, which is basically a subset of Cypress Equities. They have completed and developed real projects in the past, so it's a little insulting to assume this is some kind of Ponzi scheme.
Whether it will happen is a different story ...
I would love for this to happen. Once 125th becomes cleaner and more habitable, the rest of Harlem will follow.
ReplyDeleteBring on the Harlem Hyatt Proposal!!!
ReplyDelete11.18 is kind of correct. i could get more excited about this if the developer involved were someone seasoned as a developer and with a track record in nyc.
ReplyDeletethis is kind of silly. smith cypress (the developer is football player and dancing with the stars Emmit Smith. cypress is former Dallas Cowboys QB Roger Staubach.
do some research people. this is a football guy who idolizes Magic Johnson's ventures off the basketball court, and teamed up with a guy he knew as a Dallas Cowboy footballer (stauback or better known as Cypress) and he's basically got Roger Stauback believing he can replicate Magic Johnson type of ventures in minority ethnic communities.
It really boils down to this if you dig. This is not about sound justification based on demographics, etc. Can two non-New York Developers do this? I doubt it....
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In 2006 Smith made his first move toward becoming a real estate developer. He teamed with another Cowboy legend, Roger Staubach, the founder and CEO of Staubach Co., to form Smith/Cypress Partners LP, a real estate development enterprise specializing in transforming underutilized parcels in densely populated areas into commercially viable properties anchored by national retail giants.
In his first deal, Smith helped the firm sign Mervyn's, a California-based department store chain, to anchor a $45 million, 230,000-square-foot project in Phoenix, where he last played for the Cardinals two seasons ago.
With access to $50 million in capital, Smith has several other projects in the works. He has a letter of intent to develop a 65-acre site in a densely populated yet underserved area near northwest Fort Worth (it was formerly a college operated by a Masonic lodge), and he's haggling over another potential project in southeast Fort Worth.
On one of the sites, Smith plans to build a complex with as much as 600,000 square feet of retail space, more than double the size of the Phoenix property. "There's a huge need for top-quality retail in these areas, and I understand how the deals are cut," Smith said before lunch. "I'm not an engineer. I'm not a contractor. And I'm still learning the jargon. But I understand deals, and the only way to grow is to be in the middle of the deals."
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This will never happen.
Jimmie Kimmel Live documented how this developer, Emmit Smith, can't speak English
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGT08DTk3NM
The Staubach Company is actually a well-established development company. If this doesn't happen it may have as much to do with inertia in Harlem.
ReplyDeleteI have my fingers crossed on this one but I disagree with the idea to put a YMCA in the building. We have a YMCA on 135 st and its not great for the community. There are people who sit out side and harass tourists and people they think are tourists. I'm not seeing the YMCA and Hyatt as such good neighbors. A museum, a community center, anyhting but another Y
ReplyDeleteCorey ,
ReplyDeleteI finally agree with you on something. Great post.
To anon 8:55: the two individuals you argue don't have the wherewithal to complete such a project are Hall of Famers. They're legends on and off the football field. They have the will and the means to get this thing up and running and I've already guaranteed it in past posts.
Some of you make it sound like a dog and pony show! ;) I sincerely hope it has a lot more substance than that (does the fact that Bloomberg gave it his blessing give any credence?) and I will be keeping my fingers crossed that this does actually happen. Anybody going tonight? I will be in DC unfortunately :(
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