30.5.12
Silverstein Building a Residential Hat on a Tower?
It seems like such a possibility may come to pass based on the news in the Full Story below. Few facts that would describe the tower to be built at 514 11th Avenue are available. The Full Story below even makes mention of the overall size of the building not being laid out- right after suggesting that it will be around 60 stories.
So what educated guess can we make of what Silverstein has planned for this site?
Bounded by 11th Avenue, the Lincoln Tunnel Approach, 40th and 41st Street, 514 11th Avenue occupies the majority of the north easterly block in the recently rezoned Hudson Yards area. If any of you readers haven't dug through the zoning details of the Hudson Yards Special Purpose District, we would highly recommend it. Better yet, contact us at Cubed Advisory and we'll fill you in on the details. In broad brushstrokes it involves some hefty FAR bonuses and transferable development rights that should create a landrush similar to what was recently seen in Chelsea. It also has some tightly controlled use restrictions all with the intent of molding a bright future for approximately 100 acres of Manhattan.
For 514 11th Avenue, this translates into the following possibility:
With a lot area of 105,050SF and a base FAR of 10, it is already a large development with 1.05MSF as of right. The Hudson Yards District provides a bonus of an additional FAR of 10 (for a total of 20) if certain conditions are met.
The easy condition is that bonus FAR of 10 through 18 (840,400SF for a total of 1.89MSF) can only be obtained by contributing to the cities "District Improvement Fund". A clever, albeit naked, way to have private development shoulder some of the cities costs associated with Hudson Yards, the District Improvement Bonus is available at a cost of $100/SF in 2005 money. The code does provide a rule stating that the "contribution" is to be adjusted for inflation, which is around $118 in 2012 money. It also stipulates cash up front before any DOB or CPC approvals are received. Still, purchasing the equivalent of land in NYC for $118SF buildable is quite a steal.
The slightly more difficult- read expensive- condition to get the site from an FAR of 18 to 20 and max out the buildable area at 2.1MSF is to transfer land from the blocks between 10th and 11th Avenues, and 30th to 33rd Street- known as the "Eastern Railyards". Transfer means purchase and if a similar situation in Chelsea is any example, this could get pricey. Currently this land is owned in it's entirety by the MTA. This option is only available once the DIB capped FAR of 18 has been achieved through "contributions".
Of course there is a "but" in all this bonus area somewhere and it is where the residential hat mentioned in the title comes in. The Hudson Yard zoning also tightens up the usual zoning rules regarding residential use in commercial areas and vice versa. 514 11th Avenue is to be a commercial area per the new rules and must fufill an FAR of 14 as commercial use before any residential will be permitted on the site. Thats as-of-right FAR of 10, plus and additional FAR of 4 (420kSF for a $50M "contribution") for a total of 1.4MSF of commercial space before the first apartment can be built. NYC zoning clearly lays out that residential use goes above commercial and therein lies the hat.
At Cubed Advisory, we are expecting Silverstein to at some point announce a 1.9 to 2.1MSF development, with a full site, 2 story, retail base of 210kSF (as noted in the Full Story below). On top of this will be an office tower of 1.26MSF wearing a residential hat of 420kSF to 630kSF, depending on how much space Silverstein can purchase from the MTA's Eastern Railyards.
Of course, this is Silverstein and he may just rewrite the rules purely on speculation. He has done it before.
Full Story
So what educated guess can we make of what Silverstein has planned for this site?
Bounded by 11th Avenue, the Lincoln Tunnel Approach, 40th and 41st Street, 514 11th Avenue occupies the majority of the north easterly block in the recently rezoned Hudson Yards area. If any of you readers haven't dug through the zoning details of the Hudson Yards Special Purpose District, we would highly recommend it. Better yet, contact us at Cubed Advisory and we'll fill you in on the details. In broad brushstrokes it involves some hefty FAR bonuses and transferable development rights that should create a landrush similar to what was recently seen in Chelsea. It also has some tightly controlled use restrictions all with the intent of molding a bright future for approximately 100 acres of Manhattan.
For 514 11th Avenue, this translates into the following possibility:
With a lot area of 105,050SF and a base FAR of 10, it is already a large development with 1.05MSF as of right. The Hudson Yards District provides a bonus of an additional FAR of 10 (for a total of 20) if certain conditions are met.
The easy condition is that bonus FAR of 10 through 18 (840,400SF for a total of 1.89MSF) can only be obtained by contributing to the cities "District Improvement Fund". A clever, albeit naked, way to have private development shoulder some of the cities costs associated with Hudson Yards, the District Improvement Bonus is available at a cost of $100/SF in 2005 money. The code does provide a rule stating that the "contribution" is to be adjusted for inflation, which is around $118 in 2012 money. It also stipulates cash up front before any DOB or CPC approvals are received. Still, purchasing the equivalent of land in NYC for $118SF buildable is quite a steal.
The slightly more difficult- read expensive- condition to get the site from an FAR of 18 to 20 and max out the buildable area at 2.1MSF is to transfer land from the blocks between 10th and 11th Avenues, and 30th to 33rd Street- known as the "Eastern Railyards". Transfer means purchase and if a similar situation in Chelsea is any example, this could get pricey. Currently this land is owned in it's entirety by the MTA. This option is only available once the DIB capped FAR of 18 has been achieved through "contributions".
Of course there is a "but" in all this bonus area somewhere and it is where the residential hat mentioned in the title comes in. The Hudson Yard zoning also tightens up the usual zoning rules regarding residential use in commercial areas and vice versa. 514 11th Avenue is to be a commercial area per the new rules and must fufill an FAR of 14 as commercial use before any residential will be permitted on the site. Thats as-of-right FAR of 10, plus and additional FAR of 4 (420kSF for a $50M "contribution") for a total of 1.4MSF of commercial space before the first apartment can be built. NYC zoning clearly lays out that residential use goes above commercial and therein lies the hat.
At Cubed Advisory, we are expecting Silverstein to at some point announce a 1.9 to 2.1MSF development, with a full site, 2 story, retail base of 210kSF (as noted in the Full Story below). On top of this will be an office tower of 1.26MSF wearing a residential hat of 420kSF to 630kSF, depending on how much space Silverstein can purchase from the MTA's Eastern Railyards.
Of course, this is Silverstein and he may just rewrite the rules purely on speculation. He has done it before.
Full Story
Labels: 514 11th Avenue, commercial, development, Hudson Yards, residential, Robert K. Futterman, Silverstein Properties
27.4.12
Thor Making Room for a Flagship?
There has never been a shortage of flagship stores on 5th Avenue and at Cubed Advisory, we expect that Joe Sitt is going to be adding space for one more.
As the Full Story below notes, Sitt's Thor Equities recently purchased 516-520 5th Avenue from Aby Rosen's RFR Holding. Currently a group of 3 tired and surprisingly short buildings, Thor paid $132M for the trio, which works out to an eye watering $838/SF buildable. But when bundled with the 139kSF of air rights that RFR added to the property in 2007, that comes down to a much more reasonable $444/SF buildable.
With a combined as-of-right and air rights buildable SF of almost 300kSF, it is likely that Thor will put up a tower of around 30 floors. Perhaps a few more depending on how the tower conforms to it's zoning envelope. Bonus FAR is available for public amenities. However, given the small footprint (10500SF), it seem unlikely that any sort of urban plaza is going to appear and bolster the buildings FAR. Offices above will be able to command solid rents with their views of Bryant Park, but it will be the ground floors that will be worth watching. After Uniqlo opened late last year further up 5th Avenue in a $300M, 15 year deal it seems all but certain that Thor will be marketing the first few floors of his new development to a large retail interest.
Full Story
As the Full Story below notes, Sitt's Thor Equities recently purchased 516-520 5th Avenue from Aby Rosen's RFR Holding. Currently a group of 3 tired and surprisingly short buildings, Thor paid $132M for the trio, which works out to an eye watering $838/SF buildable. But when bundled with the 139kSF of air rights that RFR added to the property in 2007, that comes down to a much more reasonable $444/SF buildable.
With a combined as-of-right and air rights buildable SF of almost 300kSF, it is likely that Thor will put up a tower of around 30 floors. Perhaps a few more depending on how the tower conforms to it's zoning envelope. Bonus FAR is available for public amenities. However, given the small footprint (10500SF), it seem unlikely that any sort of urban plaza is going to appear and bolster the buildings FAR. Offices above will be able to command solid rents with their views of Bryant Park, but it will be the ground floors that will be worth watching. After Uniqlo opened late last year further up 5th Avenue in a $300M, 15 year deal it seems all but certain that Thor will be marketing the first few floors of his new development to a large retail interest.
Full Story
Labels: Aby Rosen, commercial, development, Joe Sitt, Midtown, retail, RFR Holding, Thor Equities