Project Type: New buildingProject Description: Construction of new 11 story 51 unit residential building
Status: Stalled construction site; vacant lot
Background: This site was bought by controversial landlord Baruch Singer, who has specialized in buying distressed properties. He has sought to develop major new buildings, for example as co-investor of the Greenpoint Pencil Factory condo. In 2006, Singer bought this property in the South Slope and planned to develop an 11-story condo building. Singer hit financial trouble; in 2008 he renegotiated terms with the lender for this property, and subsequently the lender for the Pencil Factory called in its loan because that building wasn’t finished by its scheduled completion date.
The 4th Avenue project was declared Stalled in April 2009. The excavation was backfilled. Permits, which were renewed in mid-2009, expired in January 2010. There is no current activity, and the DOB considers the site secure and safe.
According to code people may “pause” the work for a day short of a year, without abandoning.
ReplyDeleteAs of 3/11 there is a hole in the fence on 6th Street and anyone can enter the lot.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this site received any remediation. A gas tank, which was perhaps illegal, was on the original site. The oil company used their own tank to fill up their trucks and occasionally other trucks.
ReplyDeleteI called 311 concerning an unlocked entrance. Padlock is open. Complaint # 3339876.
ReplyDeleteFence fell down during rainstorm, 9-16-10, and the gate is open. Lots of trash inside lot.
ReplyDeleteLate March/early April an environmental consulting firm was spotted at the site driving tubes into the ground for analysis most likely. After that some guys were replacing areas of the fence that had become warped and broken.
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