Reply With QuoteThe approach to financing these developments is starting to resemble the 'clean as you go' approach to cooking. Very piecemeal. Probably an easier risk proposition for any would-be lender.
What's been constructed is probably enough to get the NYPD horse stables and the car dealership in and going, which undoubtedly are the priority right now.
This project appears to be stalled.
DOB shows it's still only Permitted up to Floor 6. An Application to go all the way up to 31 was filed but withdrawn back in August. Another Amendment to the NB Application was also filed in August for floors up to the 31st; at that time it was erroneously reported that the additional floors were Permitted (rather than simply filed). That application was Disapproved on 11.20.09.
The Schedule A shows that Residential Units start at the 4th Floor. Looks like we may have to wait a while to see those start to rise.
The approach to financing these developments is starting to resemble the 'clean as you go' approach to cooking. Very piecemeal. Probably an easier risk proposition for any would-be lender.
not much going on here
Those columns are pretty thoroughly and lovingly capped. It might be a little while before a tower appears on top of this thing. I have to imagine the major expense is the foundation and footing to this point, so who knows what it will take to push this over the hill.Originally Posted by econ_tim
At least it's comforting to know that the developer is taking a loss every day they delay putting it up. Sometimes I forget that when we say things like "oh they want to wait for a better market," it doesn't mean that they're putting their feet up on their desks and smoking cigars.
Even just having a floor or two poured is a pretty huge achievement when you take the more speculative location into account. I'm guessing the multi-phase approach will get sped up considerably as the recovery continues.
Welcome back, CfS.
What's been keeping you busy and away from WNY?
It's been a really rough past couple months actually. A huge family crisis, a sudden new full-time job and a Constructive Eviction claim against my old landlord (got to break my lease and move, yaaay!!). I've been really missing all the WNY fun and picture-taking and stuff, and I'm looking forward to getting back to my old pretentious self as we kick off the new decade
Hope all's been well, dude. Let me buy you a drink sometime soon.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/re...l?ref=business
A Mercedes Flagship That Sets the Standard
By ALISON GREGOR
Published: January 5, 2010
Mercedes-Benz USA is building a flagship dealership in a 333,000-square-foot retail space on 11th Avenue in Manhattan, which it expects to set the style standard for all other Mercedes dealers around the country.
The dealership, which is already under construction and is scheduled to open early next year, encompasses five levels, two of which will be above ground. It is part of a 29-story residential development called Clinton Park that will occupy a half block at 770 11th Avenue, between 53rd and 54th Streets.
The showroom will have structural supports of glass and three sides of glass stretching up almost 30 feet from the sidewalk, facing all of 11th Avenue and parts of 53rd and 54th. The design, called Autohaus, will serve as an inspiration for Mercedes-Benz USA’s 352 full sales and service dealers, many of which will remodel their showrooms to follow suit.
“We want to make sure that all the other franchises come in here and see this dealership as something they can also achieve,” said Willi Goossen, the Mercedes-Benz USA Manhattan project manager. “We will definitely be able to show to our customers what Mercedes is all about.”
The new dealership will have 72 work bays, at least 20 more than an existing dealership owned by Mercedes-Benz USA at 536 West 41st Street. That dealership, which is about 170,000 square feet with additional rooftop parking, will close when the new one opens, Mr. Goossen said.
The company also has a retail showroom at 430 Park Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
While the Two Trees Management Company, the developer of Clinton Park, has not yet obtained financing for the 900-unit residential development, the dealership is being financed with a $90 million construction loan.
Two Trees acquired the 11th Avenue property for $130 million, a company spokeswoman, Barbara Wagner, said in an e-mail message. It plans to complete the residential portion of the project “as soon as rental demand and capital markets permit,” Ms. Wagner said.
Scott Spector, a principal at the architecture firm Spector Group, which is designing the new dealership, said the design was meant to improve both the appearance of the showroom and customer service.
For instance, there will be glass walls into the service shop, which will be on the second subterranean level, enabling customers to see their cars being serviced. The dealership will sell Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and Smart vehicles and will employ about 200 people.
By this December, Mercedes-Benz USA expects to spend about $230 million on the upgrade of its dealer network. Individual dealers around the country are investing a total of $1.4 billion.
The Autohaus initiative is a global push to align all Mercedes-Benz dealerships not only in their design, which emphasizes transparency with use of glass, but also in their customer service. Since 1992, Mercedes-Benz USA has gone from selling 63,000 to 190,000 automobiles a year nationwide, said Donna Boland, a spokeswoman for the company.
“Obviously, your retail network has to reflect that growth in volume,” she said, “but selling cars is a small part of the equation if you want repeat buyers. To keep bringing them back, you have to have the service capacity and service experience to do so.”
Those dealerships adopting the design, including the new one on 11th Avenue in Manhattan, will have a blue portal as an entryway. The theme colors will be light blue, yellow and apricot — to convey the qualities of openness, lightness and trust, the company said — and contemporary furniture.
“Autohaus as an initiative is one of comfort and convenience, but it still has that industrial feel to a given showroom,” Mr. Spector said. “So through their own studies in color and texture and feel, Mercedes-Benz came up with these sets of standards that all dealerships will work with.”
The Manhattan showroom, which will be one of the largest in the country for Mercedes, will have an elevator for cars serving all five levels, along with a spiral ramp entering from both 53rd and 54th Streets at ground level and continuing to all subterranean levels.
“There’s a whole helix ramp that connects the lower levels to the ground level,” Mr. Spector said. “It’s absolutely an engineering feat.”
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Auto Voyeurism
Example of the Mercedes Benz Dealership Autohaus Style
Nice ^
Auto Fetishism
So basically the "stepped" residential units may never get built, looks like this will just be a Mercedes dealership for the foreseeable future
...and a smelly horse stable
03.21.2010
Love the wide angles... what kind of camera do you use?
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