New 35,000 SF building slated for 289 Tenth Ave.

A project that I have under way at 289 10th Avenue is making waves as the first commercial building to be built in West Chelsea in recent memory. More dramatic, six-story, 35,000-SF office building is being built speculatively.

While the facts behind its creation are startling, the building itself will raise no eyebrows once it is complete. It will look like it has been there for 100 years. We considered many designs, all of which were typical to contemporary construction, with little relevance to the context of West Chelsea. It was very clear to me that this project had to look like it had been there forever. For that reason, we retained and amplified the character of the neighborhood, rather than changing it.

Red brick was rejected and tan brick chosen as more appropriate. Even the windows are to be of the same style as the historic buildings that give West Chelsea its character. The only difference is that the windows we have specified for 289 10th Avenue have double thermal panes, are more soundproof, don't leak air and are 13' tall - larger than what would be seen in older construction.

When an observer looked at the plans and told me, "That looks like a turn-of-the-century building," I said: "Exactly, except that we fixed all the problems old buildings have."

Conventional wisdom is that the West Chelsea market will not support commercial rents comparable with midtown or new speculative development. In fact, I have been working on development projects in the area since the mid-1990s. For just as long, I have heard such projects nay-sayed by developers, bankers and brokers who simply did not believe the area could become what, in fact, it has become today.

Tenants in West Chelsea are clamoring for quality available space for offices, galleries and showrooms. Too many of them occupy older buildings that were never intended for, or adapted to, contemporary uses. Some of their drawbacks are wood structures, columns every 12 to 14 feet, insufficient stairs for emergency egress. Even after painting and renovating their new offices, these tenants are still encumbered by the outdated design and structure of their buildings.

The property at 289 10th Ave. belongs to Allen Rosenberg. Rosenberg spent many, many childhood hours playing in garages like the one that occupies the site of this new building. As an adult and a real estate investor who owns 22 residential and industrial buildings around the New York area, Rosenberg can view the garage unsentimentaily, and now understands its upside potential.

What are the plans? A 35,000-SF building, including basement and rooftop. A design that features all the beautiful qualities and essential character of a 100-year old loft building. Better, in new construction, we have been able to eliminate all of the drawbacks of an older building.

The 50-foot-wide floors will be entirely column-free and meet the new seismic code, at significant additional cost. Ceiling heights will range from 14 to 16 feet. Large 13-foot windows will let natural light stream in. The building will be more than up-to-date with sophisticated telecommunications and electrical wiring. Its steel and cement structure will meet current building codes. Its oversized passenger elevators will be modem, clean, safe and relatively fast.

289 10th Avenue has been designed with a commitment to doing things in the best possible way. The structure will be on its site long after Rosenberg and I no longer have anything to do with it. We want to leave behind a building of quality, of character, of beauty and of utility.

The response from the Chelsea community has been tremendous. With demolition still to begin, this speculative building already has offers for over half of its space. Creative and arts-oriented tenants rave about the new building that will meet their needs for beautiful, column free open space, in a structure that takes its architectural cues from its century-old. neighbors.

Asking rents are $50 per SF for space on the ground floor and the penthouse. Upper floors are going for $45 per SF. Brooklyn Federal Savings is financing the project. The bank is very bullish on Chelsea and can see the security of a investment in a project that promises to meet such a deep-felt need.

289 10th Avenue is the first new nonresidential construction in West Chelsea that can be remembered. The neighborhood first became a beehive of commercial activity in the second half of the 19th century. In the highline elevated railroad tracks and solid garages, warehouses and former factories, one can still see the physical imprint of an era in which lumberyards, breweries, factories, rail yards and piers occupied the area West of 10th Avenue. Chelsea has an unglamorous legacy as an area in which things were stored, built or repaired.

Only is past few years has West Chelsea taken off. It has been reborn in a period of just four or five years as a neighborhood of galleries, artists, television studios and other creative industries.