Construction has started on the sites that make up the northeast corner of Walker and Church — housing the Belle Reve taxpayer and the L-shaped Boltex building. The developers are aiming to be done in Q2 2026.

This is the final coda, the last remnant if you will, for old Tribeca — when family businesses were housed in the warehouses that made up the neighborhood. Other than the Telephone Sales & Service Company at 132 West Broadway, I can’t think of another. (Anyone?)

The Belle Reve building (aka 305-309 Church) sold in February 2024 for $5.25 million, with the deed signed by Damien Smith, the founder of Prosper Property Group. The L-shaped building that is 34 Walker as well as 309 Church, known as the Paramount/Boltex Textile Company building for the company that purchased it in 1966, was sold for $11.6 million on Feb. 27 to some sort of combination of Urban Capital Group and Prosper Property Group.

Landmarks approved the drawings previously, since the buildings are in the Tribeca East Historic District, and the combination of the two structures and the empty corner lot will net 30,000 square feet for five (!) luxury lofts and ground-floor retail. (Just to give you a sense of that corner: Anejo is across Walker, and the solid brick facade that is the AT&T building is across the street, with the Roxy just south.)

The new building was designed by SOMA, who will also preserve the cast iron facade of 32 and 309. The architecture firm on record is The Turett Collaborative. The new structure is limestone.

The buildings are seven stories, with three- and four-bedroom full-floor apartments starting at 3,500 square feet, with a duplex penthouse. The ceilings will be 12 to 16 feet. The original drawings were rejected by CB1 for making the new structure blend in too seamlessly with the old. This one differentiates more clearly between the two structures.

It’s easiest to understand the plan by looking at the massing drawing below: the dark grey is the existing L-shaped Paramount/Boltex building, and the light gray is the new construction. The added floor is within zoning limits, and that floor would get the crown that mimics the current one plus a glass penthouse set back from the street wall. The new structure would lose the fire escapes.