Last fall, the New York Times broke the news that the landmarked Metro Theater on the Upper West Side would become a Planet Fitness. Now applications have officially been filed to convert the 1930s Art Deco theater at 2626 Broadway into retail.
It’s been over half a year since we gave you an update on 181 Front Street, a mixed-use project between Jay Street and Bridge Street in DUMBO. Back in July, foundation work was being done. Now, there’s some building to be seen. Photos sent to us by our friend Tectonic, show the structure is about two-stories off the ground.
Development in Brownsville is starting to pick up, and it might have something to do with the big rezoning set to transform East New York next door. Today we’ve come across plans for a seven-story hotel at 120 Thatford Avenue, between Pitkin and Belmont avenues.
The long-vacant Times Square Theater, located at 217 West 42nd Street, between Seventh and Eighth avenues in Midtown, may have another chance to be used, according to the New York Post. Singapore-based Oracle Projects International, which produces and designs events, has reportedly leased the property. The former theater is overseen by the state’s Historic Preservation Committee as well as New 42nd St, a nonprofit that leases the theater (and five others) in a 99-year lease. In recent years, the building was leased twice with different reuse projects in mind, but both failed to come to fruition. The latest plan would likely include, at the very least, minor alterations to, or a restoration of, the existing building. The building’s interior and exterior were on the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s backlog, but were removed from the calendar without prejudice last month.
There were rumors back in the summer of 2015 that the three-story, 20,000-square-foot retail building at 2251-2259 Broadway (a.k.a. 256 West 81st Street), on the Upper West Side, would be demolished for a new building, and it appears that will be the case. Alchemy Properties and Carlyle Group have purchased the property for $51 million and, according to The Real Deal, are planning to build a condominium tower. Alchemy Properties leased the building last year to remove all its tenants, and the structure will subsequently be demolished. The project could be as large as 94,000 square feet, but no demolition permits or new building applications have been filed yet.
