The tenement building with the boarded up corner store at 115th Street and FDB/8th Avenue has now appeared on the market with an extravagant new construction proposal. According to a listing on Streeteasy, the owner is selling a total of three buildings which include all of 2126 and 2128 FDB along with 280 West 115th Street. An initial asking price has been set at $4 million and more sketches of the new construction plan can be found on the Streeteasy site:
LINK. Most of the other developments along the southern FDB corridor have gone on previously empty lots or have been adaptive reuse projects (like The Gateway or BLVD condos) so this one seems to be pretty ambitious since it will require a lot of demolition. This listing appeared just a week ago so it will be interesting to so how things progress by the end of summer.
ewwww.
ReplyDeleteIt would be an attractive building if fixed up. It seems like a buyer should do a gut renovation and then build more on top if it feels necessary, not tear down the existing structure. But maybe the interior is so far gone it's too costly to save the exterior.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ben - would be nice if they could rehab the building. Keep some history and character. BUT, something needs to happen there. That corner depresses me every day.
ReplyDeleteAnything that brings additional foot traffic and disposable income to the neighborhood is a good thing, but this looks like a hospital.
ReplyDeleteThere are great new developments along FDB, but alot of historic soul has certainly been stripped out of that strip. Can't blame the developments for that if they happen on vacated lots. But I agree - if at all possible they should refrain from tearing down existing structures.
ReplyDeleteMain issue I have with this is what appears to be a big, long concrete wall at street level. Assuming I'm not going to live in this particular building, the most important thing is the street interface -- which should tend to liven rather than deaden.
ReplyDeleteAdina is right in that it is hard to imagine *anything* not being an improvement here, but I hope the final design does a better job of incorporating street-level retail (or at least something more than a garage exit and two tiny doors.
IMHO, design of the new place is pretty good, but it's all in the execution and the quality of the materials. That area was rezoned to allow higher FARs. Buildings like this are the result. There's no going back on that rezoning - it's done. I'd rather have a good contemporary building than some new/old combo building that doesn't do either one very well.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a glass wall at street level.
ReplyDeleteD: I do hope that is the case -- it's a bit hard to tell from the rendering.
ReplyDeleteOf course, as rendered in brick and mortar, the street-level difference between a long glass 'wall' and a long concrete wall is noticeable, to say the least.