Delayed projects spotlight: No permit yet for BD Hotels’ 350-unit Hell’s Kitchen residential tower pre-filed in 2016
By Atticus O’Brien-Pappalardo
One of the larger residential projects filed in Manhattan in 2016 was BD Hotels’ plan to construct a residential high rise to replace a modest hotel.
The project was filed by Richard Born of BD Hotels on August 12, 2016. The plans called for a 280,037-square-foot, 350-unit residential building at 515 West 42nd Street in Hell’s Kitchen.
The 443-foot tall, 39-story development would yield 276,237-square-feet of residential space and 3,800-square feet of commercial space, which would be used for ground floor retail. The plans indicated the building would provide an accessory outdoor garden, accessory fitness amenity, and accessory sky lounge for residents.
This analysis of this project is part of an ongoing series. PincusCo Media has been taking an in-depth look at delayed development projects in the city to get an idea of which projects are taking longer to move forward.
The first and second editions of the series looked at the three largest new building projects pre-filed with the city’s Department of Buildings in a specific month in 2018 that had not yet received permits to begin construction.
The BD Hotels property, which is occupied by the currently closed Travel Inn Hotel, has been in Richard Born’s family since his father bought the property for an undisclosed price in the early 1980s.
Gotham Organization entered into a joint venture with BD soon after plans were disclosed, taking responsibility for pre-development and charged with securing a construction loan, according to court filings.
Initial reports indicated it was unclear if the proposed units at 515 West 42nd would be condos or rentals. However, an average unit size of 790 square feet, paired with a planned leasing office on the first floor, signaled a greater chance they would be rentals. The legal wrangling also disclosed that the project would be a rental.
The project was approved in late November of 2017, after the DOB certified that it was in line with the city’s zoning laws. The certification indicated that the development was pushing forward. However, no permits of any kind were issued.
The following year, in October 2018, Gotham filed a lawsuit against Born for an alleged breach of contract. The suit claimed that Gotham secured a construction loan from Deutsche Bank that Born initially approved, before changing his mind and voicing concerns about it nine months later. In response to the concerns, the suit said, Gotham negotiated a new loan with M&T Bank. However, the same day it was secured, BD said it would terminate the agreement between the JV, according to the filings.
Born, for his part, claimed in court filings that he only approved a term sheet for the Deutsche loan, not a final deal. He sought to change the terms that had required he provide a guaranty of payment. He wanted instead a joint guaranty of completion. However, Deutsche’s terms kept the guaranty of payment along with the guaranty of completion, and that was not acceptable. Born in court filings says he terminated the joint venture before Gotham presented the M&T proposal. The parties discontinued the suit at the end of 2019.
Born has filed six subsequent updates to the plans, calling for structural, foundation, excavation, mechanical, and plumbing work all associated with the original file. One of those plans were disapproved and eventually withdrawn, while the other five were all approved. The most recent were filed on August 29, 2017, calling for “site work including underground plumbing work in conjunction with new building construction.” None of the plans have received permits.
Neither Gotham or BD Hotels responded to a request for comment. A representative from Handel Architects, who is the architecture firm listed on the original filing, said they were not able to comment on the project.