The worst kept secret in Harlem is no longer a secret. On the website of W Hotel parent company Starwood, under a list of new hotels planned for North America, an Aloft—the new Starwood spinoff brand—is listed as opening in June 2010 at 2296-2308 Frederick Douglass Boulevard. This is the location around and over an old carriage house on 124th Street that was converted to lofts, an odd lot long rumored to be a W. The design seen above turned up some time ago on the website of the construction manager for the project. That rendering has since been deemed outdated by some of the parties involved, and good lord, we hope they're right. Left unanswered: Will the Aloft Harlem be a condo-hotel, as also rumored?
· New Starwood Hotels & Resorts [starwoodhotels.com]
· Revealed: Harlem's W Condo-Hotel in All its Terrifying Glory [Curbed]
HARLEM—We do love renderings, especially ones that come with shilly, relentlessly cheerful emails. This is the green roof of a condo called Observatory Place. The email says, "Today’s New Yorkers in search of fresh air and cool breezes can buy a condo at Observatory Place… We don’t want to brag or anything, but check out the funky rendering and great green rooftop...Historical maps of the area show that not far from Observatory Place was a park in Harlem called Observatory Place Park, a haven of peace and quiet at the turn of the century where busy New Yorkers could get away from the bustle of the city to enjoy the fresh air and river views. Things never change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" We think the exclamation point key got stuckkkkkk. [CurbedWire Inbox]
CHELSEA—Something is up at the Sixth Ave. building housing Bed Bath and Beyond. Per an email: "Workers are constructing temporary scaffolding above the existing building to approximate a 20+ story addition. Since the site is in an historic district, I suspect that landmarks is requiring this 'Potemkin' structure as a way of analyzing the impact of a proposed future addition. Our offices look out over the site. It's facinating....I've never seen anything like this before." [CurbedWire Inbox]
HARLEM—After a bit of backlash at new 123rd Street condo development The Dwyer, we knew it was only a matter of time until we heard from a customer again, especially after word came through that appliances had been delivered. Folks, we love a happy ending: "Last week I got the opportunity to walk through my finished apartment at the Dwyer. Must admit I was a little worried the quality would not be there since they had taken what seemed like forever to finish. Luckily my fears were totally unwarranted. Like any new construction there where a few small issues but nothing to lose sleep over. I've attached some pics of the finished product. It's been a long and winding road but it looks like I'll finally be calling 123rd and St. Nicholas home." [CurbedWire Inbox]
LONG ISLAND CITY—Over on the Queens West waterfront, the Jesuscondo known to mere mortals as The View is enjoying a "friends and family" opening, according to a tipster: "I was walking along Center Boulevard in LIC where the new Rockrose Building, The View, is being built. I look to my left a little and I see a glorious sales office open and ready to go. It's located in their rental building at 4720 Center Boulevard which is right on the water. The sales office is glass on all three sides and it faces the actual building that they are selling. Kind of sick. Plus the back conference room has glass that has, of course, beautiful views of Manhattan."
Some call Harlem's Kalahari the ugliest new building in New York, but the developers are trying extra hard to make it pretty on the inside: "The Kalahari's collection, assembled by curator Cheryl Riley with a budget of some $500,000, is a far cry from the cookie-cutter landscape paintings that were once ubiquitous in the lobbies of New York apartment buildings. Custom-curated art collections have begun appearing recently in residential high-rises, as condominiums seek to stand out from the pack of amenity-laden developments sprouting up all over the city." [Sun]
1) Since buying it for just over $31 million in 2005, Len Blavatnik—no stranger to megadeals both rumored and real—has let the 75-foot-wide mansion at 2 East 63rd Street (right) sit empty and become decrepit. A far cry from the "Roman villa" it used to be. [Streetscapes/Christopher Gray]
2) The strangest part of this tale of how a pair of models came to settle in Greenpoint is that they left Williamsburg because it "had already become saturated with want-to-be artists, and sort of a fashion parade on Bedford Street." That's right, models think the Bedford (Avenue, by the way) fashion scene is ridiculous. [Habitats/Celia Barbour]
3) Maspeth, Queens, long a Curbed staff pick for a neighborhood that will eventually be overrun by development, is proud of its status as a "double ticket" community, meaning it's a bus ride to a subway ride to Manhattan. But be afraid, Maspethians, because after Bushwick and Ridgewood, you're next. [Living In/Gregory Beyer]
4) A look into the life of retail broker queen Faith Hope Consolo reveals that the bank boom may be over, drug stores are the new banks and Danny Meyer may be eying Harlem. Though that may just be a little buzz-building on the FHC's part. [The City]
5) A young couple has their sights set on a starter home in Westchester, so what in God's name brings them to a new construction condo in Jersey City? Surely it's not the $30,000 parking spots. [The Hunt/Joyce Cohen]
6) Stories like this have been everywhere lately, but for some reason, reading about how Grand Theft Auto's Liberty City compares to the real New York never gets old. We hear the Dukes waterfront is going to be huge! [The City]
CHELSEA—Remember that strip of businesses on Ninth Avenue that are faced with eviction because the landlord wants to replace them with "newer, upscale businesses"? Well, there's a rally tomorrow to keep this little slice of the old city in place and it'll include Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and a ton of West Side groups, which is a lot of people coming to the aid of two small groceries, a gift store, a barber shop and a liquor store. Per an email from Andrew Berman (the one from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation): "Residents are worried that with the disappearance of these stores, along with many other older business in recent years, Chelsea is losing its character..." It happens tomorrow from 1-3 on Ninth Ave. between 17th & 18th Streets. [CurbedWire Inbox]
HARLEM—Anyone who thinks they've got it bad with city project that drag on, should consider Frederick Douglass Circle at 110th Street, where work has been going on for four years with no end in sight. A reader emails: "Do you know when this never ending project will end? The sidewalk entrance into Central Park looks almost complete—at least the sidewalk has opened up again as of last week. But there hasn’t been any progress with the circle in the middle—it’s still covered up." The plans look nice, though. [CurbedWire Inbox]
HARLEM—Despite last minute efforts to block a vote, the City Council has approved the contentious plan to rezone 125th Street and surrounding blocks. Opponents say the rezoning will lead to more gentrification, displace residents and businesses and change the area signficantly, but supporters have argued it will pave the way for development and reserve space for the arts. Opposition among Council Members diminished after an agreement was reached to increase the amount of "income targeted" affordable housing in new units that would be built under the plan from about 20 percent to 48 percent. Nearly 4,000 units of housing might be built under the rezone. A lawsuit was filed on Monday to stop the plan. Reaction developing. [CurbedWire Inbox]
EAST VILLAGE—Something is going on at the "Milstein Lot." Per a tipster: "Went home for lunch today and noticed that the wall-thingys at the E.13th Street mystery-lot have come down. Last I saw, there were 3-4 guys in there picking up trash/bricks/tree branches, and other sorts of boarded up-vacant-wtf-land ish. What's the deal? Is someone going to finally block my view of 14th street. Oh hell no." [CurbedWire Inbox]
HARLEM—When last we heard from Fifth on the Park development, it was via a shilly email proclaiming it half full. Well, we have a new one about the huge sign telling all the commuters on Metro North they'd be home if they lived in Harlem instead of Connecticut. Per the email: "Fifth on the Park Condo developers put up six-story high sign that faces the trains and Harlem’s 125th station platform and can be seen for miles away. (There is another sign – closer to street level at the corner of 120th and Fifth Avenue.)" Also, it is now slightly more than half full. [CurbedWire Inbox]
UES—An update on the 17,000 square foot, three house "combined" Upper East Side McMansion we posted about yesterday: "Yesterday (April 22) all Landmarks commissioners criticized the proposal and sent it back to be modified by the LPC staff and the architects (DÁquino Monaco). Chair Tierney said there would be a future public hearing. Many neighborhood residents attended the hearing and spoke against the proposal (as they had at Community Board 8 the week before) and urged that they be kept informed and consulted on the changes. As you can see, they need to be radical and this process will be very interesting." [Curbed Wire Inbox]
Sometimes it's hard to get a feel for a new development's living spaces based on renderings, and that is why we never get tired of looking at hot model porn. Uh, never mind. The renderings for the twin-building Delany Lofts in Harlem made us feel like we were playing The Sims, so we were happy to come across the new model penthouse apartment in the POKO Partners-developed project, which is being sold by Warburg. Every unit is priced under $1 million, and Delany Lofts is made up of 37 apartments in two seven-story buildings on West 115th Street between Seventh Avenue and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. And because you were wondering, yes, the development is named after the Delany Sisters. Can't you just imagine them seated at that breakfast bar? Eh, us neither.
· Development Du Jour: Delany Lofts [Curbed]
· Listings: Delany Lofts [Warburg]
· Delany Lofts [Official Site]
As far as Heal Estate goes—the trend of turning old churches into luxury condos—Harlem's 2056 Fifth Avenue (née Rhapsody on Fifth) has always been a favorite. Repped by Corcoran's Brian and Jessica Armstead, the Beaux-Arts beauty had seen better days, which the developers looked to reclaim. Mission accomplished on the outside, but what about the innards? Well, the long-plannedmodel unit recently opened for business, and we've got some fresh photos of it above. Not bad for an old prayer palace, eh? There are currently 14 listings online, priced from $645,000 to $1,575,000 after some price cuts five weeks ago.
· 2056 Fifth Avenue [Official Site]
· CurbedWire: Rhapsody Emerges as 2056 Fifth [Curbed]
· Open House Hangover: Harlem Threesome [Curbed]
1) Since buying it for just over $31 million in 2005, Len Blavatnik—no stranger to 
