losing whose sky in the new west / development over the Lincoln Tunnel a threat to Glass Farmhouse?
maybe not so bad for of the Glass Farmers?
When I posted about the new listing at The Glass Farmhouse, 438 W 37 St, #6F yesterday I was focused on that listing being new. I dropped an aside about possible new development that may impact one of the outstanding features of the south-facing units there – major sky and views running from west to east.
Hudson Mews threatens light, brings park
A friendly Anon-a-mouse brought a fact about the recent sale of a two-story building immediately south of The Glass Farmhouse with significant unused FAR, but that is not what I remembered as the issue. A developer’s name popped into my head overnight as possibly associated with the project I was thinking about and – Google being my friend – I found a NY Observer article from April 29 (Behold, a Mini-City Rises; not the article I was thinking about, but it mentions the development I had read about, Hudson Mews North and South).
That “infrastructure” is the spaghetti of entrance and exit tunnels and ramps to the Lincoln Tunnel and the Port Authority Bus Terminal that dominates the northeast end of the Hudson Yards. One of the key real-estate deals to smooth out the terrain is a pair of mid-rise apartment complexes on either side of 37th Street between Ninth and 10th avenues. Called Hudson Mews North and South, the Dermot Company project will be built on a platform above the Lincoln Tunnel entrance and exit ramps—a challenge that has taken longer than expected to surmount.
“The engineering and technical details of building on that site have been worked out, and we are looking for the most cost-effective way of satisfying the Port Authority and other engineering requirements,” Dermot president William Dickey told The Observer. “This is rather a unique situation. There is no other project like this in the city or in the Port Authority system.”
Mr. Dickey said that when the Port Authority first agreed to give the air rights to the Dermot Company, the two parties had hoped that ground would be broken this summer, with December as the outside date. These days, December is looking more realistic. The cost of the air rights is one part of the negotiations.
A piece from The Real Estate Bloggers a year ago added the detail that the 800 unit development will have two 18-story towers above the approach ramps on Dyer Avenue between 36th and 38th Streets, including 20% as “affordable housing”, 10,000 sq ft of “community space” and 25,000 sq ft of “public open space”.
More up to date (THX Google) is a June 8 letter from Community Board 4 to the City Planning Commission, in which CB4 recommended approval of the project based (mainly) on the open space to be featured.
This project is an important first step toward realizing the “InfrastructurePark” or “NeighborhoodPark” that featured so prominently in the City’s Hudson Yards open space plan, stretching from 34th to 40th Streets.
The addresses for the two rental towers will be 424 W 37 Street and 439 W 37 Street – just across the street (north) of The Glass Farmhouse and due east, separated by at least two lots from The Glass Farmhouse (the 50 foot wide 4 story building at #430 and the 50 foot wide parking lot at #434).
all about the angles, and setbacks
How much Glass Farmer sky will be impacted by Hudson Mews South will depend on how close that 18 story tower goes to 36th Street and the setbacks, as the Glass Farmhouse extends south only to mid-block.
Some where there are renderings and models that would help answer that question. At the moment I don’t know where, but sooner or later….
© Sandy Mattingly 2007
Tagged with: Cb 4, Dermot, Development, Garment District, Glass Farmhouse, Hudson Mews, Light, Lincoln Tunnel
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