Bond Street Begins Transition
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Just as construction on three condominium buildings on Bond Street is wrapping up, another wave of development is in the works that will leave the residents of the cobblestone street, which runs just two short blocks between Broadway and the Bowery, rattled by drilling and banging for another several years. As retailers begin to fill the ground floors of these new buildings, the historic street will be poised for a transition into what some are dubbing the new Prince Street of NoHo.
“In the past, the street was a real enclave, with the Vanderbilts and the Astors living there,” the hotelier Ian Schrager, who is building a new condominium at 40 Bond St., said. “Confidence in this street and neighborhood is pushing westward. You’ll see an increase in activity in the whole area.”
After several years of building, three new condos with a total of 55 high-end apartments are nearing completion. They are Mr. Schrager’s development, a green-tinted glass structure with 27 units, an eight-story building with a Jerusalem stone façade at 25 Bond St., and an 11-story condo covered in granite at 48 Bond St.
Now, developers are aiming to add two hotels, a nine-story luxury condo, and a five-story office building. Except for the condominium, the projects are as-of-right, so few city approvals are needed to move them forward.
“We used to have problems with crack dealers and the men’s shelter,” a 31-year resident of Bond Street, Laura Feldstein, said. “That was nothing compared to the noise from these restaurants and construction. … This is what happens to a lot of neighborhoods — they’re quiet, innocuous, nobody pays attention. Then everything changes.”
Developer Zach Vella and his partners are working on a proposal for a new boutique hotel on top of what is now a parking lot and unused auto garage at 10-12 Bond St. Because they have yet to go before the community board, Mr. Vella was reticent to divulge details, except to say that it would be on the scale of the six-story Mercer Hotel in SoHo and “consistent with the architecture in the area.”
At 363 Lafayette St., which touches Bond and Great Jones streets, developers from Olmstead Properties want to build a five-story office building, according to the president of the NoHo Neighborhood Association, Zella Jones. Representatives from Olmstead Properties declined to comment.
For months, the company has been embroiled in a public dispute with artist Chuck Close, who lives at 20 Bond St. Mr. Close claimed that some proposals for the spot would reduce the light flowing into his studio and cause him other inconveniences.
Regarding the other side of Mr. Close’s building, at 22 Bond St., there has been discussion of building a “sliver hotel” that would span a full block to Great Jones Street, Ms. Jones, said. Activity at the building appears to have stopped, according to city records, and other discussions for its use are under way, she said. The owner of the building, Eric Taub, did not respond to calls for comment.
The developer and owner of a self-storage company, Adam Gordon, is tearing down buildings at 41 and 43 Bond Street to make room for a nine-story condominium. He also purchased 57 Bond St. — the site of the former Bouwerie Lane Theater — and plans to restore the French Second Empire-style building to its original look, when it was home to the Bond Street Bank. The building will have a central entrance on Bond Street and the theater space is being converted into two retail stores.
Several art galleries have already begun asking about the spaces, Mr. Gordon said. The building is within easy walking distance of the New Museum, which is just a few blocks away at the Bowery and Prince Street. The museum is set to open on December 1, and is attracting a growing number of galleries to the neighborhood.
In addition to all of these new projects, there are as many as eight retail spaces that are vacant on Bond Street. These range from an 11,250-square-foot storefront on the corner of Broadway to a 2,500-square-foot area on the second floor of a co-op at 2 Bond St.
The street has traditionally not seen much foot traffic, a situation residents and business owners said could change with the new developments.
“I never envisioned it being a huge thoroughfare for traffic, but right now I am starting to think I could be wrong,” the owner of Il Buco restaurant, Donna Lennard, said. The restaurant started as an antique store 13 years ago before evolving into an Italian restaurant. “I think it is going to be a chic little enclave,” she said.
Several landlords said in interviews that high-end clothing and furniture companies have been contacting them about renting the retail spaces, but no contracts have been signed.
Bond Street is already home to three restaurants: Ms. Lennard’s Il Buco, the Japanese restaurant Bond Street, and Mercat, a tapas bar. It’s not likely that any more restaurants will open given that the community board voted last week not to give Superior — a restaurant by AvroKO, the founders of Public in SoHo — a liquor license.
“With rents like these, you can’t survive on this street without at least a beer and wine license,” Ms. Lennard said.
What was once an industrial street filled with antique stores and loft apartments populated by artists is set to become an architecturally ambitious vein that connects Broadway and the Bowery.
Ian Schrager’s building at 40 Bond St. is covered with grids of green glass and a fluidly sculpted metal gate influenced by graffiti art. Across the way, at 25 Bond St., Tony Goldman’s building will soon feature 100 feet of sidewalk made from slabs of granite hand-carved by the sculptor Ken Hiratsuka. Romy Goldman’s building at 48 Bond St., designed by Deborah Berke, will feature a dark charcoal-colored granite and some windows that tilt skyward.
“It’s going to be the Prince Street of NoHo,” Mr. Goldman said.
Prices are enough to raise eyebrows and attract the likes of celebrities such as singer Ricky Martin, who bought a condo at Ian Schrager’s 11-story building. Earlier this week, one townhouse at the building was listed for nearly $10 million. Condos at 40 Bond St. have so far sold at about $2,561 a square foot, according to data from Streeteasy.com.
At least two of the developers are planning to live in their new buildings.
Mr. Schrager, a well-known hotelier, is saving the 8,500-square-foot penthouse for himself and Mr. Gordon is planning to convert the top three floors of 57 Bond St. into his home. And, perhaps as a testament to the ambition of the street, Mr. Gordon said he plans to break through the floor to create a two-story climbing wall in his new apartment for his 7- and 9-year-old sons.