531 West End Avenue (20-story condo)

[krulltime]

20-story condo building planned for 531 West End Avenue


http://www.cityrealty.com/graphics/uploads/1162852925_wea531.jpg


06-NOV-06

Demolition has started at 531 West End Avenue between 85th and 86th Streets where IMICO West End LLC., of which David Rothstein is an executive vice president, plans a new 20-story residential condominium building.

The new building, which is a project of Extell Development, will have 34 units and 30 parking spaces in an attended garage.

According to an offering plan filed in July for testing purposes with the New York State Attorney General’s Office, the project would have a purchase price offering of $274,105,000.

There would be four studio units of 615 to 725 square feet on the second floor, larger units above the second floor and “penthouse” units on floors 16 through 21 which would seven-bedroom units with seven-and-a-half baths with 6,275 square feet priced at $11,600,000 to $12,100,000.

The building will have a landscaped courtyard, a recreation room a fitness center with a swimming pool, and a game room. It would have 100 feet of frontage on 86th Street.

Mr. Rothstein did not return a call from CityRealty.com for further details.

Part of the site is occupied by an orange-brick clad low-rise residential building, shown at the right.


Copyright © 1994-2006 CITY REALTY.COM INC.

[ablarc]

Hope they hold the building line and cornice line. West End Avenue has a Parisian consistency.

[londonlawyer]

I sincerely hope that the POS on the corner is razed and that the beautiful, old townhouse to the south of the site is not. I assume that the POS will be torn down since the article states that the project will "have 100 feet of frontage on 86th Street."

This building is one of the few eyesores on WEA.

[antinimby]

Why does every damn building going up nowadays have to have a freakin' recreation/fitness center?

Aren't that what fitness clubs are suppose to be for?

Jeez.

Anyway, I have a feeling this is the kind of site where O'Hara gets the call, unfortunately. Let's hope not though.

[londonlawyer]

.... Anyway, I have a feeling this is the kind of site where O'Hara gets the call, unfortunately. Let's hope not though.

Why do you think that? This is a very upscale area, and this POS which will be demolished was basically the only POS on WEA north of 59th St.

[antinimby]

Why do you think that? This is a very upscale area, and this POS which will be demolished was basically the only POS on WEA north of 59th St.Upscale perhaps, but kind of in an out-of-the-way area.
Anyway, location doesn't seem to prevent O'Hara from getting work, as his garbage is scattered all over town.

[lofter1]

Why does every damn building going up nowadays have to have a freakin' recreation/fitness center?

This article form the Sunday NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/realestate/05cover.html?_r=1&ref=realestate&oref=slogin) might explain it:

Which Building Improvements Really Pay Off?


... After tending to the lobby and hiring (or not) of a doorman, many buildings add the sorts of amenities found in newer developments. The most popular are gyms, followed by roof decks and/or playrooms, depending on available space and the particular demographics of a building’s residents.

... But as developers have already discovered, the most popular amenity — measured in use by residents and demand by buyers — is a gym. In a city crammed with strivers who work out at 5 a.m. or midnight, such exercisers appreciate not having to don a coat, raise an umbrella or waste time treading to a treadmill (or to their squash or basketball courts).

“People want the convenience even if they belong to a gym,” said Gary Barnett, president of Extell ...

[londonlawyer]

Upscale perhaps, but kind of in an out-of-the-way area.
Anyway, location doesn't seem to prevent O'Hara from getting work, as his garbage is scattered all over town.

This location is one block from the 86th Street subway station and all of the stores on B'way. I would love to live there.

[sfenn1117]

Extell wouldn't use O'Hara. They've shown that they are interested in developing decent buildings.....Ariel East/West, the Orion, Avery. Not magnificent buildings, but not O'Hara wrecks.

[pianoman11686]

I wouldn't be surprised if Cetra/Ruddy gets the call for this one.

[londonlawyer]

I hope that a glass building is not constructed on this corner. Stone is warranted here.

[ablarc]

^ That's right, they ought to zone glass curtain wall right out of this area. West End Avenue on the whole has the greatest architectural unity and harmony to be found in New York.

[sfenn1117]

I agree. I like the new glass buildings but this would be out of place....like the Ariel towers. Stern should be commissioned.....but it's probably very unlikely.

[sfenn1117]

Well looks like we will get our brick/stone building. I was browsing the website for Lucien Lagrange, who is to Chicago what Kondylis is to NY. He's used a heck of a lot, in other words.

http://i11.tinypic.com/628u4y0.jpg

http://www.llarch.com/
Menu --> Projects --> Residential --> 531-539 West End Avenue

Interesting that Extell is using a Chicago based architect. It would be cool if he used Solomon Cordwell Buenz for a NY building, they are another prevalent Chicago firm and their buildings are very modern and generally awesome.

[londonlawyer]

That's a nice building. Sadly, a beautiful Victorian townhouse is being razed for this project. Extell should have saved it.

[Fabrizio]

http://i11.tinypic.com/628u4y0.jpg


A shame about the townhouse and although maybe it looks a little icky, if it's well built, it's going to be very nice.

If something like this had gone up where those odd-ball, foil-wrapped Ariel towers stand, I bet the community would not be protesting about new construction.

[antinimby]

http://www.llarch.com/
Menu --> Projects --> Residential --> 531-539 West End AvenueThat site says there's only 28 units in the whole building. I can't believe something this large is only going to have a measly 28 units.

Sometimes you wonder if it's worth losing a couple of nice townhouses just for so few units.

[sfenn1117]

I was surprised at that myself, but the city realty article says that there will be several seven bedroom units, which is crazy I think.

BTW, am I just missing it, or is it gone from the website?

[antinimby]

Yup, gone. Maybe we (or the traffic your link created) had something to do with it? :D

[antinimby]

Marketing starts for 535 West End Avenue at 86th Street


http://www.cityrealty.com/graphics/uploads/1200342797_wea531c.jpg


14-JAN-08 (http://www.cityrealty.com/new_developments/news.cr?noteid=21862)

Marketing has started for the 20-story residential condominium building at 535 West End Avenue on the southwest corner at 86th Street.

Demolition started last fall.

IMICO West End LLC., of which David Rothstein is an executive vice president, is the developer. It is a project of Extell Development.
When demolition started last fall, the building was planned to have 34 apartments and, according to an offering plan filed in July for testing purposes with the New York State Attorney General's Office, the project would have a purchase price offering of $274,105,000.

That plan said there would be four studio units of 615 to 725 square feet on the second floor, larger units above the second floor and "penthouse" units on floors 16 through 21 which would seven-bedroom units with seven-and-a-half baths with 6,275 square feet priced at $11,600,000 to $12,100,000.

An ad that appeared in yesterday's edition of The New York Times Magazine, however, describing the project as "The Finest Pre-War Ever Built," said it was "a limited edition of 22 exquisite half and full floor condominium residences."

The ad showed the rendering at the right and a floor plan of a full-floor, 7-bedroom, 7.5-bathroom unit with 8,451 square feet that was notable for have a library at the curved corner at 86th Street that was to the east of a living room smaller than the dining room.

The building will have a landscaped courtyard, a recreation room a fitness center with a swimming pool, and a game room.

The red-brick building will have a swimming pool, a La Palestra fitness center, a private courtyard, a private lounge and club room and kitchens by Smallbone of Devizes.

The building will have a three-story rusticated limestone base and the top floor will also have a limestone facade. The building will have a canopied entrance beneath an arched window on West End Avenue and some arched windows on the 2nd and 14th floors and all the windows on the 20th floor will be arched. There is a setback at the 15th floor.

Lucien Lagrange, who has designed many high-rise luxury apartment towers in Chicago, is the architect for the project.

Copyright © 1994-2008 CITY REALTY.COM INC.

[MidtownGuy]

Very nice.

[Fabrizio]

A little dorky, but very nice.

Stern is really churnin' them out.

[ASchwarz]

Looks good to me and I'm no fan of retro design, though the project is Lucien Lagrange, not Stern.

Lagrange is a prolific Chicago-based architect who doesn't have a prevailing style.

[Fabrizio]

Uh...

Stern is really churnin' them out.

I was not referring to the the architect, I was referring to Stern our forum member.


A little dorky, but very nice.

And here, I'm referring to MidtownGuy.

[alonzo-ny]

Looks great! Great retro style, not corny at all.

[BrooklynRider]

...And here, I'm referring to MidtownGuy.

You are bad, but you got a laugh out of me.

[macreator]

There was a big rendering of this building in the Times magazine last Sunday. I think this building looks quite nice, and fits in perfectly with the block. The materials look like they should be top-notch, and the corner curve is appreciated. My only gripe is with the cornices on the building's setback and top. I wish they were more pronounced.

[zinka]

NYT article about the bizarre marketing for this building:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/nyregion/thecity/09prew.html

"21st Century Pre-War Residences"

[Front_Porch]

Oh, I've been selling real estate for too long, because I don't think that slogan is crazy . ..

to me, it's code for this a condo with a layout that will give you an entry foyer, a living room bigger than the 13 by 15 we are seeing standard in new condos, and possibly some demarcation of the dining room.

Don't know if that's what they're delivering, but it seems like that's what they're promising.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[brianac]

Updated On 03/26/08 at 10:31AM

Parking war over Extell's 'pre-war' West End Ave. building

http://s3.amazonaws.com/trd_three/images/17921/535westend.jpg
535 West End Avenue

By James Kelly

Extell's new "pre-war" building on the Upper West Side has a very post-war problem: parking.

The developer is battling with a local community board over the fate of an underground parking garage and curb cut for the 20-story luxury condo project at 535 West End Avenue.

And the battle, like most that revolve around parking in New York City, has gotten ugly.

Opponent Batya Lewton, a spokeswoman for the Coalition for a Livable West Side, claims Extell hired "out-of-work actors" to walk the streets near the project and collect petitions in favor of the garage.

She said petitioners were yelling, "Save 20 parking spots on West End Ave."

But she said that when somebody asked them if they knew the specifics of the issue, they said, "We don't know, or care, all we know is that we're getting paid."

Lewton called Extell's behavior "pathetic" and "deceitful" and reported it to Community Board 7, which is considering a resolution on the issue.

The president of Extell, Gary Barnett, defended his company's decision to hire the petitioners.

"This is a free country, and people have the right to have their opinions heard," Barnett said. When asked if those hired by Extell to canvass for the garage proposal were indeed out-of-work actors, Barnett said: "It doesn't matter whether it's unemployed people, it just matters who's signing the petition."

After four days of petitioning, resulting in about 300 signatures, Extell ended the campaign, after Community Board 7 complained to the developer that it was "upsetting" residents, said Donna Gargano, Extell's senior vice president of development. She said that the company didn't see the problem with the canvassing, but decided to stop because it drew complaints.

"When I heard about [the Community Board's] complaint it was shocking. I said, 'this is absolutely un-American,'" Barnett said.

The Coalition for a Livable West Side received 410 votes in opposition to the project, and presented it at the Board's Transportation Committee. Extell has not yet decided whether it would present the results of its petition to the board.

And, Barnett hasn't left the fight up to his underlings. He appeared in front of the community board with a Powerpoint presentation to persuade members to give him the green-light for the 20 private parking spots, which is 11 more than the as-of-right-spots the building is allotted.

The community board's transportation committee has already passed a resolution to reject the garage and the measure is expected to be rejected by the full committee. So, it looks like when the building opens in 2009 that some of those who shelled out between $8 million and $25 million for apartments (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/nyregion/thecity/09prew.html?ref=thecity) that are up to 14,000 square feet may have to find parking elsewhere.

Copyright 2008 The Real Deal.

[Skylimitone]

This one is up to about the 3rd fl now.

[londonlawyer]

http://www.cityrealty.com/graphics/uploads/1162852925_wea531.jpg

The new Extell tower is nice; moreover, anything would have been better than this.