In the News: Church Street Building Sold

May 30, 2014 Construction, People, Real Estate, Restaurant/Bar News

••• Commercial Observer confirms that 149-151 Church (which runs from Chambers to Warren, on the east side) has indeed been sold (for $35 million)—to “real estate development and investment firm Cape Advisors [which] boasts a portfolio of properties concentrated in New York City, Long Island and the New Jersey shore. Cape Resorts, a subsidiary of Cape Advisors, owns and manages a number of hotel, resort and hospitality projects in the Hamptons, eastern Long Island and New Jersey.” I’ll try to ask if they have any plans to announce, but last we heard they were looking for air rights—so we’re likely to learn details from the neighboring buildings. If they can’t get air rights to build something new, the word was that they’ll double the rents and fix the building up.

••• “Battery Park City lost one of its most resolute civic champions on Wednesday evening, when Percy Corcoran died at Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital, at age 59, after a four-year struggle with breast cancer. The longtime public member of Community Board 1 was a tireless advocate for causes as various as bringing the New York Public Library to Battery Park City, encouraging farmers markets to come to the community, the rights of senior citizens and the handicapped, traffic safety, and humane treatment of animals.” —Broadsheet

••• Local politicians still haven’t seen the secret $100 million Hudson River Park air-rights transfer agreement, and a new study will say that Pier 40 has two years of life left. Meanwhile, community members are working on a lawsuit. —Downtown Express

••• “Old Pier 17 Is Almost Gone, New Pier 17 to Open in 2016.” —Curbed

••• The Wall Street Journal‘s wine columnist visits Bâtard.

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1 Comment

  1. Nicole Vianna
    May 31, 2014 • 6:31 am

    Regarding the Pier 40 Air Rights Agreement: Connecting the dots, it appears that Madelyn Wils and the other senior staff of the HRP Trust negotiated and signed the agreement without consulting the HRP Board, which is mind boggling. If you attend a HRP Board meeting you’ll watch them rubber stamp contracts to spend as little as $7500, but somehow they weren’t even consulted about a $100 million agreement.

    Why do I think this? First, the agreement or anything that could possibly be a camouflaged reference to the agreement does not appear on any of the Trust Board agendas, for either the public or executive sessions. Secondly, if the Trust Board had been consulted, then Gail Brewer would be able to get a copy of the materials from her reps on the Trust Board, instead of being a party to the FOIL request along with our other electeds. Lastly, at the March Trust Board meeting (after the agreement is said to have been signed), there was a short discussion about the long term financial plan for the permanent repair of Pier 40 and Ms. Wils told the Board that there was none.

    The Manhattan Borough President and the NYC Mayor together control a majority of the voting seats on the HRP Trust Board. If they did not know about the agreement in advance and still have not been provided a copy of the agreement, why are Brewer and DeBlasio moaning to the press rather than instructing their Board reps to assert their authority over the staff?