Reply With Quote"The Rose" is long overdue...odd time to start though...
New Durst-Fetner Building @ W 57th & 11th Ave (next to The Helena)
Hello, I have been reading posts for a long time here, but decided to join today and post my first thread as I got some interesting news.
The lot next to my building, The Helena is finally showing signs of life. It has been vacant for years and is quite a large lot. There have been plans for everything from apartment buildings, private schools, and even a "cybercenter" (holy 2001).
Last summer, they had drilling rigs in to do soil samples for weeks at a time, which I often see before construction starts. I figured it was just a matter of time that the lot had something built on it.
Today I received an email from the Durst Management:
It does not say what exactly is being built, but we will see....March 23, 2010
Dear Helena Residents,
Beginning the week of March 29, 2010, the development of the site to the west of the Helena will commence and is expected to last for 36-months. You will see the following changes beginning next week and we will keep you updated as the project progresses:
• Erection of a new construction fence on both the 57th and 58th Street sides of the site.
• Preparation for excavation
• Removal of soil from the site; and
• Foundation construction
During the next several weeks there will be heavy equipment on the site. Activity will occur between 7:00am and 5:00pm as permitted by the City. There is no planned weekend work.
The biggest impact of this construction on our building will be the closures of the sidewalks on 57th and 58th Streets west of the Helena. The Helena’s entrance will not be affected and will continue to be available for automobile pickup and drop off. Shuttle Bus service will also not be impacted.
On behalf of Durst Fetner Residential, we apologize for any inconvenience that this will cause. We will keep you updated as we are informed of new information. If you have additional questions or comments, please email them to XXXXXX@fetner.com or call us at (212)867-XXXX.
Thank you,
Durst Fetner Residential
Perhaps this? http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?p=104935
"The Rose" is long overdue...odd time to start though...
Not "The Rose" ... looks like it's going to be a 6-story school building ...
Luxury Renters Get Advance Word of Incoming Kiddie Invasion
CURBED
At the corner of 57th Street and Eleventh Avenue rises a massive glassy rental tower called The Helena, where the only current availability advertised on its website is a studio apartment with river views for $2,140 per month. Next door to the west is an equally ginormous empty lot, also owned by the Durst Organization, once targeted for high-rise development but lately said to be becoming a for-profit private school designed by architecture firm Perkins Eastman and run by the former owner of Esquire ...
... a recent building permit issued for 625 West 57th Street mentions a six-story educational facility. Happiness for Helena residents, unless they're down about the three years of construction fun beginning at 7am every weekday. Hey, that's the school's first lesson! Can't win 'em all.
From DOB, the New Building Application for 625 West 57th (not yet approved).
As usual, Curbed gets it wrong.
The site being developed is the commercial mid-block site, not the site of the proposed Rose Tower.
The superblock has three parcels; highrise parcels on either end and a mid-rise mid-block parcel. The school is being built on this middle portion.
^
Does CURBED even mention The Rose?
Or Twelfth Avenue site?
Nope, just 625 at mid-block.
Lofter1, you are darn resourceful...
I sent them a message yesterday, asking what was being built and this is what I got in response today:
Good Day
We have received your comments regarding our recent email memorandum. We understand your concerns. We will update our residents as additional information becomes available, however we would like to inform you that we are excited about the new property and anticipate it to be a beneficial addition to the neighborhood. While we cannot provide the exact purpose of the property we can advise you that to date we have been informed that the height of the property will be nearly 6 stories and will not obstruct our residents views.
We appreciate your patience while we gather additional information.
Thank you.
Mentioning the Rose was just wishful thinking, I was fully aware of the other proposals. Good for the people at the Helena, bad for the skyline.
corporate cogsOriginally Posted by Czervik.Construction
That kind of reply drives me crazy when the information is publicly recorded and of interest to many.
280,000+ sf seems kinda big for a brand new prep school, maybe this is mixed use with some retail as well?
According to the Schedule A at DOB it's all school ...
Cellar: Parking, Mechanical
1st Floor: Kindergarten Classrooms, Classrooms, Offices, Storage, Locker Rooms, Squash Court / Fitness, Swimming Pool, Kitchen, Custodial Room
2nd Floor: Kindergarten Classrooms, Classrooms, Offices, Storage, Locker Rooms, Gymnasium, Theater
3rd Floor: Kindergarten Classrooms, Classrooms, Offices, Storage, Library
4th Floor: Classrooms, Offices, Servery, Library, Storage, Cafeteria
5th Floor: Classrooms, Offices, Servery, Library, Storage, Cafeteria
6th Floor: Classrooms, Storage
Not bad for us, it will only be 6 stories. The "Rose" or whatever they are thinking about for the rest of the site will be at the other end of the lot. I don't think they would be dumb enough to wedge a 50 story building next to the Helena.
No More Teachers, No More Books at Hell's Kitchen Durst Site
November 5, 2010, by Pete Davies
A Durst proposal from the past: The Rose residential tower at Twelfth at 57th.
A big block of land at 625 West 57th Street, owned by the Durst Organization, has a new plan in the works, and to make it happen a West Side oldie is about to come down. The humble Artkraft Strauss Sign Corp. warehouse has faced the Hudson River from across Twelfth Avenue for generations. With its classic hand-painted sign, this is where the old Times Square neon supersigns were built. Artkraft has moved onto bigger digs and its old home will now make way for a new five-story commercial building. This plan from Durst supersedes the previously proposed six-story ultra-private school that was to rise at mid-block next door to The Helena, a Durst luxury rental on Eleventh Avenue. But now it appears that classrooms are out and offices are in.
That school, called the Nations Academy, was a dream of Christopher Whittle, the former owner of Esquire. But the Durst-Whittle deal fell apart following the financial freeze in 2008, only to re-emerge the next year when new financing was put in place. A plush and private plan from architects Perkins Eastman never got off the ground and now the Academy that wouldn't die is, once again, a no-go here. Despite some fanfare a year ago trumpeting anew the Whittle scheme, the Nations Academy website has disappeared into the ether.
Durst's new commercial and retail proposal is from SLCE Architects. The most recent filings at the Department of Buildings show that the latest plan is to build on the full remainder of the block, a mega-plot measuring 550' x 200' where Durst once proposed construction of a cybercenter and then a residential tower called The Rose. But that's all in the past. Now, as detailed in the latest Schedule A, there will be lots of parking down low, with retail at street level and offices on floors 3 through 5. To the north across 58th Street it will face the grand old IRT Powerhouse by McKim, Mead, and White, a Beaux Arts beauty that preservationists are trying to get protected.
The two-story Artkraft Strauss building at the west end of the site, a colorful chunk of funk that was a favorite canvas of street artists, greets drivers barreling down from the elevated West Side Highway. Inside, artist Dean Radinovsky recently built a cinder block chapel of lights and memorialized it on YouTube. The old Artkraft pile is now being prepped for imminent demolition: doors are padlocked, broken windows abound and a little Bobcat chews away at the innards. Another old timer bites the dust, but the Dursts are moving on.
625 West 57th Street coverage [Curbed]
New Building Application - 625 West 57th Street [DOB]
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/1...durst_site.php
That seems to be a waste of a good area why not just go ahead with the original Rose proposal
Nobody wants to live that far West.
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