Reply With QuoteCute little towers that will serve the High Line well.
Thanks for the updates.
Cute little towers that will serve the High Line well.
More metal & glass up at 245 Tenth, here's the north facade ...
Mid-day on Sunday with the sun low in the southern sky the south-facing facade was blindingly bright ...
245 tenth
This is a beautiful building, but that Lukoil must go!
I much rather see that graffiti covered building gone.
I agree. Everything on the block that is north of this beautiful, new building should go, as should Lukoil to the south of it.
The new building plays off the LUKOIL Station very well.
Folks who are calling for the end of filling stations all over downtown better get working on some resolutions to save gas stations -- or no one in Manhattan will have anyplace left to fill their tank.
Which would be fine by me (I don't have a car) -- I'd just as soon that Manhattan become a car-free zone.
The Lukoil station still looks like crap. I would not want to live next to it. Moreover, I couldn't see a gas station in the middle of a great urban area like South Kensington or the Avenue Foch in Paris.
Since most taxi drivers live in the outer boroughs, they can gas up there.
Are there any plans for those surrounding buildings?
Those next to 245 look like crap. It is also to be pointed out the very specific black portion, the slanted "building line", which leads me to believe something is in the works.
Curbed.com
Construction Watch: Free to Be, HL23
Monday, October 27, 2008, by Joey
One day, two Construction Watches? Folks, do not panic. Normally we would provide you with sufficient time and space between batches of photos of steel beams and cement, but in the case of HL23, the news just couldn't wait. Now that the legal wrangling over the Neil Denari-designed condo building at 517 West 23rd Street appears to be settled, the glassy mindtrip is free to rise over the High Line. And rise, it shall! Above, some tipster-submitted photos proving that all newborns look alike, even if they'll grow up to become some sort of bizarre alien being. According to StreetEasy, two of the 15-story building's 11 units are in contract. Is Kanye going to step up to the plate or what?
NY Post
HIGH STAKES
THE HIGH LINE BETS BIG ON DESIGN AND LUXURY
By MAX GROSS
Last updated: 12:38 am
November 13, 2008
Posted: 12:37 am
November 13, 2008
This view of the High Line from the Caledonia development includes, from left to right, Frank Gehry's IAC building, the still-in-progress Jean Nouvel condo tower at 100 11th Ave. and Annabelle Selldorf's 520 West Chelsea.
In 1999, a nonprofit called Friends of the High Line was born. Its mission was simple: to preserve and beautify the High Line — a 1½-mile strip of elevated rail tracks that snakes along 10th and 11th avenues, from the Meatpacking District through Chelsea.
Earlier this year, the group started turning the tracks into a public park, a $170 million project (about $50 million of which is being raised through private donations) — but it would seem as if they’ve already gone way beyond their original mission.
This thin strip of greenery has sprouted something unprecedented along its edges in terms of architecture and design. Heavy hitters — including Jean Nouvel, Frank Gehry, Annabelle Selldorf and Shigeru Ban — have planted their flags near the High Line, designing residential and commercial buildings that are among the city’s most eye-catching.
Andre Balazs is unveiling a hotel called the Standard (which is set for a soft opening in December and which will have a restaurant helmed by former Lever House chef Dan Silverman). And the Whitney is planning a museum for 2012.
“In terms of the quality of construction here, it’s everything good about modernism,” says Ping Kwan, himself an architect, who, with wife Aimee Chang, stopped by an open house last weekend for 456 W. 19th St.
That new condo building is being designed by Cary Tamarkin and should be finished by the end of next year.
STANDARD BY ME: The Standard (left) will have a soft opening in December; HL23 (right) is designed by Neil Denari and has 11 full-floor units.
“All these buildings really represent new ideas for living,” Kwan says.
But there’s also something ephemeral here.
“We won’t see this [kind of] building able to be replicated for many years to come,” says Holly Parker, a broker with Prudential Douglas Elliman, which is selling the half-finished Jean Nouvel condo building at 100 11th Ave., first conceived back in 2005. “We’re not going to see these finishes — it’s the end of an era.”
Developers in the future “will choose whatever’s cheaper,” Parker adds.
With good reason. Even though a building like 100 11th Ave. is fetching an average of more than $2,000 per square foot, it’s also among the more complex designs around — with pieces of the exterior being shipped from China — and is reportedly roughly $50 million over budget.
“The good news is that a lot of the buildings that have been planned look like they’re going to get finished,” says Leonard Steinberg, also with Prudential Douglas Elliman, who is selling the Annabelle Selldorf-designed 200 11th Ave., where units are fetching more than $2,800 per square foot.
Steinberg adds that the building is 80 percent sold and that “those buyers are very committed.”
The question still hanging in the air is if other buildings, which have already laid down their roots but aren’t close to 80 percent sold, will actually make money.
“These are going to be New York landmarks,” says Steinberg. “And sometimes when you make art, you don’t make a profit.”
Might it be a case of a neighborhood that flew too far too fast?
“Three years ago, the highest we could get in the area was somewhere around $900 [per square foot],” says Erin Boisson Aries, sales director at HL23, another of the swanky new condo buildings with full-floor apartments.
And “we’re approaching $3,000 a foot now,” Aries adds.
Developers, though, are sobering up.
“We’ve been tweaking the whole way through, as we get a sense of the market,” says Tamarkin. “We’re at the roughly $1,850 per square foot range, which is firmly where [the market] wants to be.”
And buyers in this market are taking their time. For example, HL23, has sold just two of its 11 units since it went on the market in the spring. And even though the $10.5 million penthouse at HL23 is $2,900 per square foot, the building’s average is closer to $1,800 per square foot.
But for buyers who have committed themselves to the High Line, things seems to be chugging along nicely.
The High Line “will increase property values — I think it was smart of the city,” says Julie Bauer, who recently bought a two-bedroom at Loft 25, once a printing plant that was turned into condos earlier this year.
Bauer, a former TriBeCa resident, thinks it has the same flavor her old neighborhood did before it became hot.
“It [became] too much like being on the Upper East Side,” Bauer says of TriBeCa. “There were baby carriages everywhere. It was losing some of its charm. I like being here. I like all the galleries — I like the fact that it’s still a New York neighborhood.”
Bauer might be somewhat disappointed, however, about what the future bodes for the High Line. Prams are making their way over here, too.
“We wanted to live near the High Line,” says Clay Erwin, who just moved into a two-bedroom, 1,500-square-foot condo in the Caledonia building on West 17th Street with his wife, Kristy, last weekend — they’re expecting a baby in January.
“Nationally, real estate is an ugly story — but this is one thing people are excited about.”
Indeed, the area has considerably improved in the short four-year spurt when the High Line really started taking off.
“For one thing, it’s a lot safer,” says Kevin Donaldson, a 13-year resident of Chelsea, who stopped by the open house at 456 W. 19th St. on Sunday. “When I moved here, it used to be hookers all along here.”
“It’s young and vibrant and very upscale,” says Gilbert Dychiao, who also swung by the open house.
And the sheer volume of residential real estate that has hit the market recently has been astounding.
In addition to those mentioned earlier, new buildings in the area include 540 W. 28th St. and Chelsea Enclave. There’s also Audrey Matlock’s Chelsea Modern, which is 75 percent sold, and which recently saw its first residents move in. And architect Jared Della Valle has two buildings — one at 459 W. 18th St., across from the Caledonia, and another at 245 10th Ave., at 24th Street, a silver building that looks like a design fantasy.
“I think it’s the nexus of a number of different things,” says David Wine, vice chairman and executive vice president of the Related Companies, which built the Caledonia (a half-rental, half-condo development).
“What you have is incredibly exciting retail in the Meatpacking District [and] unique architecture . . . that combines with the history of New York.”
Copyright 2008 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
245 10th Ave
HL 23
I think this is going to be THE BEST development of 2009:
How's the progress with the rest of the highline going? Is it still on schedule?
Great pics, and good news BTW
NY1
11/24/2008 02:40 PM
Developers Hope The High Line Will Be The New Central Park
Come spring, it will not only be flowers that will blossom along the High Line, but also apartment buildings.
The skyline along the far west side of Chelsea is dotted with cranes and construction sites, as developers take advantage of one of Manhattan's final frontiers.
Glauco Lolli-Ghetti is the one of the developers of 200 Eleventh Avenue.
When West Chelsea was rezoned, he set his sights on the waterfront property, frequently wooing the lots previous owner with cannolis and a vision for the area.
"I just saw the river view, the air and light, the High Line, the Hudson River Park and the galleries," recalls Lolli-Ghetti. "I think this area will be a landmark area. I think architectural students from all over the world will be coming here."
Eric Zollinger of Related Companies agrees. One of their buildings, the Caledonia, was constructed directly above the 10th Avenue Square. While rentals are still available, he says the condominiums sold out long before the building, or the High Line, were complete.
"What we're seeing is an infusion of energy, of people that aren't finding this just a location to go to at nighttime but a place to live, work, play," says Zollinger.
HL23 is one of the few new structures being built adjacent to the High Line. Its sales trailer is nestled directly below it. It seems developers are eager to connect themselves to the future park, literally and figuratively.
"This whole culture has developed around the High Line as a new park," says Lisa Switkin, design project manager. "People are calling it this generation's Central Park, so it's become something that a lot of people are behind."
Builders by the High Line are hoping their proximity to this newest ribbon of green will prove equally as popular as Central Park.
"If you're a block away from Central Park, that's enough," says Lolli-Ghetti. "So I think it does add or create value for real estate in the surrounding area."
"When the High Line opens in the spring, most assuredly those prices are gong to increase from where they were originally," says Zollinger. "This is the downtown Central Park most assuredly."
Copyright © 2008 NY1 News. All rights reserved.
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