NEW YORK CITY—A great deal of change is coming to the Lower East Side. That was the key message behind Taconic Investment Partners' presentation to the Young Men's/Women's Real Estate Association of New York Tuesday afternoon in Midtown.
The company is developing Essex Crossing, a 1.9-million-square-foot complex along Essex and Delancey streets, along with L&M Development Partners, BFC Partners, and the Prusik Group. Developers, brokers and industry watchers were riveted as Taconic executives explained the project, as well as some other properties in the company's portfolio.
"This is the largest city owned project south of 96th street," declared Charles Bendit, co-CEO. The ambitious mixed-use development is spread across six acres covering nine city-owned sites that Taconic acquired for $180 million, or $100 per square foot.
In exchange for the relatively low purchase price, 50% of Essex Crossing's 1,000 apartments will be affordable for low, moderate, and middle-income families. Also slated for inclusion are a 120,000-square-foot retail corridor, called the Market Line; a 14-screen movie theater, the Essex Street Market, which had to be relocated from an outdoor space where it'd been operating since 1940 into a 30,000-square foot indoor space; a cultural venue and a bowling alley.
Taconic is talking to restaurateurs, among other prospective tenant types, for the Market Line, Bendit revealed. "From the cultural venue to the Market Line, we want Essex Crossing to serve the local community but also visitors from other countries." Four sites are under construction, with full build out expected by 2021.
Meanwhile, the developer has other areas of the city in its sights. "We've been very active in the Meatpacking District," said Paul Pariser, co-CEO. "Our first big deal was 111 8th Ave, which was previously a warehouse. Brokers said we'd never get $20 per square foot for it but we leased space at $22, then $30, $40, $60, even $90 and eventually sold it to Google. It's been a great ride."
Also in the area, he continued, a mixed-use office and retail building anchored by Apple, at 401 W. 14th St., was refinanced for $89 million by Taconic last week and, uptown, the company is looking to secure a tenant for an 80,000-square-foot, three floor penthouse complex, which also features a rooftop deck, at 619 W. 54th St., known as the Movielab Building.
"We're in discussion with some really cool tenants who can have their own building within the building," Pariser said. The property's ground floor hosts a Maserati showroom, "which sexed up the building," and there is additional ground floor retail space, for which Taconic may look for another automobile company occupier or a food tenant.
"That could add a lot of excitement," he added. "We love the West Side because of Hudson Yards, everything that's happening around Lincoln Center, the migration to Tribeca, and the area's value is incredible. We thought this [acquisition, made in 2012] was an opportunity to do something good."
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
