The new Hyatt Hotel at 4th Ave. and 13th St. is coming together.
You are currently browsing the monthly archive for July 2011.
“Next week (August 1 to August 5), Contractors will continue to excavate earth and rock, and load out material. Installation of bracing rakers, line drilling, lagging and sheeting around the perimeter will progress as well. Concrete foundation walls will continue along the perimeter of the site. Final adjustments to the access ramp within the site are ongoing. As early as Thursday, July 28th, the construction fence along the North end Fifth Avenue will be relocated to the curb line with pedestrians diverted to a walkway in the street as approved by the Department of Transportation. The following week (August 8 to August 12 ), we will continue with concrete foundation walls, line drilling, rock excavation, and loading out, as well as lagging and sheeting. DEP will continue to work on the water main along 13th Street. The site will be open on Saturday, July 30th. Work hours are between 9AM and 5PM as permitted by the City. To control noise levels, work activities will be limited to the placement of formwork and rebar for concrete placement, wood lagging, and installation of walers and braces. There will be no rock excavation, rock chopping, or hauling on Saturday.”
A New York panhandler, often seen around Union Square, is on a unique mission, The Local East Village reports today. Chris Coon, 29, who has two kids and is homeless, wants to ask a million people for a dollar. He describes the project on his website, AskAMillion,com (a woman heard about his idea and gave him a laptop), as “A Social Experiment to both Help me to get out of Homelessness, take care of my two daughters and to take care of my daily living.” Coon has asked 3,462 people for a handout since the beginning of May and at this rate, City Room calculates he will reach his goal in about February 2054. When approaching people, clipboard in hand, Coon describes the concept behind his experiment, asks for some money and then records their gender and ethnicity.
Something has gone wrong in Union Square Park this summer. Complaints about illegal behavior, drug use, and vagrancy have led to a 320% increase in police citations. Now the police are patrolling much mor aggressively, as are hired security teams from the Union Square BID.
The 2011 “Summer in the Square,” at Union Square, provides early morning fitness, family fun for kids and parents, and live music every Thursday until Aug. 11. In the evening, live music is presented, beginning at 6 p.m., from a diverse mix of genres like latin, rock, jazz, and folk and a mix of local and touring bands. The exception was June 30, when three groups performed. One of them, “Million Dollar Quartet,” is based on the grand recording session where legends Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis were brought together.
Hersha Hospitality Trust, owner of upscale and select service hotels in major metropolitan markets, announced that the Company has entered into a purchase and sale agreement to acquire the 175-room Hyatt Union Square hotel in New York City at 4th Ave and 13th Street for total consideration of $104.1 million, or approximately $595,000 per key. The transaction is expected to close shortly after the seller completes the hotel’s construction. The consideration to the seller consists of $36 million paid to the seller in cash, the cancellation by the Company of a $10 million development loan made to the seller, accrued interest on the loan and the assumption by the Company of two mortgage loans secured by the hotel in the original aggregate principal amount of $55 million. While this purchase and sale agreement secures the Company’s right to acquire the completed hotel, the Company is not assuming any construction risk, including the risk of schedule and cost overruns. The hotel is expected to open in 2012.
What used to be Wok to Walk on University Place between 12th and 13th is now Sausage Inc. selling…sausages.
Our building (c. 1940)
