It was less than a decade ago when the flower district, parking lots, and an assortment of small buildings occupied the corridor along Sixth Avenue between 23rd Street and 32nd Street. Today, a number of mixed-use residential and commercial developments are rising.

Last week, Herald Square Development purchased an entire block front on the west side of Sixth Avenue between 30th and 31st streets for $117.5 million, or $352 a buildable square foot. The development site is about 333,740 buildable square feet in size and now houses seven commercial office buildings and a parking lot at 106-108 W. 31st St. The chairman of Massey Knakal Realty Services, Robert Knakal, who represented the various sellers – the Lavan family and Asher Bernstein – in the transaction, said, “When the transaction began, we were selling one building, and the final transaction included seven buildings and a parking lot. We believe that the new project will enhance the neighborhood.” The New York Sun has been told that Herald Square Development is owned by investor Baruch Singer, who last week purchased the residential apartments at the Herald Towers, in the former McAlpren Hotel, from Property Markets Group for about $250 million. The 692-unit development is at 50 W. 34th St., across from Macy’s. It is reported that Mr. Singer is in contract to purchase the former home of the East River Tennis Club at 44th Avenue between Vernon Boulevard and the waterfront in Long Island City, presently known as the River East condominium project. This project includes plans for two 28-story condo towers and four eight-story loft buildings totaling about 910 units. A local investor has entered a contract to purchase a significant portion of the block front on the southwest side of the Avenue of the Americas between 31st and 32nd streets, the Sun has been told.

In the 1970s, the chairman of Macklowe Properties, Harry Macklowe, whose firm owns more than 7 million square feet of prime office space, was a broker with the firm Wolf & Macklowe, and at the time sold a number of properties to a clothing manufacturer named Leonard Adell. Mr.Adell began assembling parcels in the manufacturing and flower shop district on Sixth Avenue. In 1995, Sixth Avenue between 24th and 31st streets was rezoned for residential. In 1999 Matthew Adell, in partnership with the Witkoff Group, bought three sites assembled by Leonard Adell on Sixth Avenue between 25th and 28th streets. In 2001, Mr. Adell and Witkoff completed the construction of the Capitol at Chelsea, a 37-story, 387-unit residential rental apartment tower atop 83,000 square feet of retail and office space on the first four floors at 55 W. 26th St. The building replaced the Coogan Building, which was originally constructed in the mid-1870s as a racquet club. A few years later they sold the building and bought the land where a residential rental building, the Chelsea Tower, sits at West 26th Street and Avenue of the Americas, then subsequently sold the property. In 2004,Adellco completed its next residential tower, a 38-story, 266-unit rental apartment building, the Aston, at 800 Sixth Ave. Last August, Adellco sold the building for $195 million to the national REIT Archstone Smith.

This past January, Adellco began excavation work on its newest residential development in the former flower district. This project, is named the Remy and is located at 101 W. 28th St., on the northwest corner of Sixth Avenue. The 32-story condominium tower is expected to be completed in 2007.

***

A number of new condominiums and mixed-use projects are planned.

Last year, LCOR and the California State Teachers Retirement Systems Pension fund purchased a parking lot site owned by Con Edison on the west side of Sixth Avenue between 24th and 25th streets. On the site, a new 199-unit condominium tower, with an address of 101 W. 24th St., is expected to be ready for its first residents in 2007. One of New York’s most active residential developers, J.D. Carlisle Development Corporation, is developing a residential condominium on the west side between 23rd and 24th streets, on a site it purchased from a partnership of Yair Levy and Serge Hoyda for about $83 million. The company is building a 33-story condominium tower, the Centria East of Rockefeller Plaza and Fifth Avenue and the Ciello on the Upper East Side. Last year, the company purchased a parking lot site at West 29th Street and Sixth Avenue. The developer is planning to build a $500 million hotel and residential condominium building, which will house a 250-room hotel managed by the Fitzpatrick Group.

Later this year, Skyway Development Group plans to begin construction of a 15-story residential condominium at 27 W. 19th St. The new building is adjacent to a six-story building erected in 1854 and converted into loft condos at 29 W. 19th St. Skyway Development, in partnership with Yair Levy Development Corporation, is converting two office buildings in Lower Manhattan. These properties include the nine-story office building at 29 John St. into 50 condominium units. The part 782 2174 885 2185nership is also converting the 16-story 1905 building at 71 Nassau St., known as the Croft Building, into 52 residential condos. This summer the first residents are expected to move into the 18-story, 56-unit condominium at 4 W. 21st St. The project is being developed by Alexander Brodsky and J. Dean Amro of the Brodsky Organization.

A principal of Extell Investment, Gary Barnett, is developing residential condominiums all over the city. In addition to three towers on the Upper West Side, the Orion on West 42nd Street, the conversion of the Stanhope Hotel, and the acquisition of office buildings and air rights on West 57th Street, he is converting two office buildings in Chelsea. They are the Altair 18 at 32 W. 18th St., a 12-story, 22-unit residential loft condominium building. Extell is also converting another loft office building, the Altair 20 at 15 W. 20th St.

Last November, the seven-story, 670,000-square-foot mixed-use retail and office building at 620 Sixth Ave. was sold for $280 million. The purchaser was an investor group that included Yair Levy, Joseph Chetrit, and Charles Dayan from the Jamestown Group. According to the trade, the developers will probably convert the office space and build additional floors on the top of the tower for residential condominiums. The building’s retail tenants include Bed Bath & Beyond, T.J. Maxx, and Filene’s Basement. The building was constructed in 1896 and served as the home of one of the city’s first department stores, Sigel Cooper Dry Goods. In the early 1990s, Tishman Speyer completed a major gut renovation and later sold it to Jamestown.

Construction is under way on the Clarett Group’s Sky House, a 55-story, 139-unit luxury condominium building at 11 E. 29th St. Later this year the first condominium owners are expected to move into Clarett 57th at 57th Street and Third Avenue. Last year, Clarett purchased the residential rental building at 220 Central Park West from the estate of Sara Korein. According to the trade, Clarett may be buying the New York Law School site in TriBeCa. Late last year, Tishman Speyer decided not to complete the purchase of the site.

Residential development in New York is changing the landscape of our city. Rezoning has assisted the city’s growth and its resurgence.

Mr. Stoler is a television broadcaster and senior vice president at First American Title Insurance Company of New York. He can be reached at mstoler@firstam.com.