808 Columbus Update: Generic Retail on the Way!
Friday, May 19, 2006, by Jeremy
As usual, you cried out for renderings yesterday amid the scuttlebutt over 808 Columbus Avenue, and we felt your pain. But alas, all we have are scraps today, in the form of an "ad placed in a real estate journal by the agent responsible [Winick Realty] for leasing the new retail space," which you see above. Gone is the shuttered C-Town supermarket, just south of 100th Street. In its place? Boilerplate signage: BANK! FASHION! HOME IMPROVEMENTS! SHOES! We can't even be sure if these are real plans, or just stunningly creative placeholders. Ditto for the bottom half of the 29-story residential building you see hiding out in the back there. Whatever it'll look like eventually, Crain's says it's slated for '08 completion. Get it? Crazy eights!
· Columbus Avenue retail project moves forward [Crain'sNY]
· More UWS Upzoning: 808 Columbus Eyes 29 Stories [Curbed]
Where did this picture come from?
This couldn't possibly be in New York, I mean look at the cars. I can't identify all of them but the grey one is definitely the Smart and those can't be sold here. Not to mention not a single SUV in the picture. Can anyone name the cream car in the foreground? Looks so familiar... Perhaps Peugot?
Does it matter?
Is it a TOP SECRET photo or something?
Ridiculous.
Interesting that the project houses on the far side of 100th Street appear to have been airbrushed out of existence, in favor of blue skies and cirrus clouds. I'm sure the low-income families who patronized that C-Town will enjoy the "Home Improvements."
maybe in 2008, we will be able to drive Smart cars in NY and park headfirst, wherever we please!
I DEMAND TO KNOW WHERE THIS PHOTO CAME FROM!!!
I actually thought the Smart-for-4 (which is the one shown in this sketch) IS available in the US.
That picture has been posted in the lobby of 372 CPW for the last couple of days. Hardly top secret.
The photo was submitted anonymously to our tips e-mail, claiming it was published in some unnamed RE journal.
I used to live in PWV, and one thing that leaps out to me about this is that they've totally killed access to the parking lot at 788 Columbus. Not to mention several parking spaces... that must be why management was trying to evict tenants from their spaces. Even more annoying is that it looks like there won't be any access to Columbus Avenue from PWV anymore. I think that this development will make things much less pleasant for tenants at all 3 buildings of PWV, but I guess nobody involved in this really cares about them.
Gorgeous! reminds me of the lovely shops along Amsterdam Avenue in the 60's...come to think of it, there all vacant...
Here's the latest about Smart (and Smart for 4 in particular). Rented the little 2-door while in Greece and loved it. But as far as selling here, don't think too many people would jump on it - no amount of airbags would protect the passengers against a collision with an average American-sized car. This thing would put the Prius to shame though.
#9, I didn't notice before you mentioned it, but you appear to be totally right - the intersection in the front looks to be 97th and Columbus, and the buildings extend all the way up to 100th. I would imagine they will have to create a new access road from either 97th or 100th directly to 788, since it can't possibly be legal to cut off a building that size from fire trucks and emergency vehicles.
There is certainly sufficient space to do so either behind 788 (which won't help much since there is no lobby-level exit to the back or cutting between the buildings in front. So it won't be the return to the grid that all the slash-and-burn types on this blog seem to favor, but it could still be a useful shortcut!
If you look closely, there is a gap in the retail buildings in the background, which may be the driveway for 788's parking lot. It won't be the "grand" entrance that it now is, though, and they probably will take some parking away to make room for the stores.
What are you guys talking about? The retail section clearly appears to end at the first southernmost traffic light/crosswalk, which is to the north of the existing parking lot entrance. That is NOT the intersection of 97th and Columbus, which would make the site three city blocks long! Just look on Google Maps and you'll see that this rendering doesn't suggest that any parking entrances are going to be blocked. The rendering als also suggests that the tower will only occupy the northermost third of the site, which means that many of the park views for the eixsting PWV building to the west will be preserved. Then again, this isn't exactly a final drawing, and who knows where it came from.
Not to take anything away from that car, but there are things far worse (heavier) on our roads to smash into than an E-class Benz or a concrete wall. A side impact in this car is not a pleasant thing. Because of the relatively low mass of the Smart it (along with its passengers) gets thrown around way too much, all made worse by the virtual absence of crumple zones. Now, personally, I would rather outlaw larger cars and let this one in. But it's hard to argue with the [still] low gas prices and the resultant market forces.
My apologies to all for high jacking this thread.
I think this is confusing because perspective appears to be very distorted on the rendering - if the PWV building shown is supposed to be 792, not 788, it is way further back than it is in real life - and also doesn't extend as far over to 100th as it should. Basically this will never exist as drawn.
Traffic flows downtown on Columbus. The PWV building in the photo is of 784, where I'm currently posting from.
I'm glad to hear that they'll be keeping the retail shops at one story, and I don't find the rendering displeasing in the context of an already not-too-attractive neighborhood (alas, I never walk north of 100th on Columbus), but the tower itself looks rather gross. I wonder what units will cost. My studio in PWV is closing in on $2,000.
The photo came from an ad in The Real Deal magazine. The same place where everything about New York City real estate first comes out.
Hi,
Fortunately or unfortunately the building and shops are going up. I don’t know how useful it is now to keep protesting that they shut down the project. How about the community organize to let the developers know exactly what stores we want. I don’t want generic, crappy stores or fast food joints! Here are some stores that I would like to see in the neighborhood: Trader Joes, a 24 hr diner, pizza place to get a slice, coffee shop, Sullivan’s bakery, crate and barrel, boutique stores, pharmacy, hardware store, and other specialty shops.
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