June, July new building review: Most sf filed in 2021, with Starrett, BLDG, and Lendlease projects

By Atticus O’Brien-Pappalardo

The combined square feet of all new building projects filed with the city’s Department of Buildings increased significantly in June and July. The 3.9 million square feet of new construction filed in June was a yearly high before the 4.1 million square feet of new construction filed in July reset the mark. PincusCo used the total building square footage figures reported in the PW1 of new building filings. Because of this, prior reports on individual filings may differ slightly from figures here.

As with new building analyses for the last several months, PincusCo only looked at new building plans published on the DOB NOW Open Data site during the months of June and July. Due to perceived delays with the New York City Department of Buildings’ new DOB NOW: Build platform, the figures may be slightly skewed.

The five largest plans over the two month period called for nearly 3 million square feet of new construction. Three of the five largest new developments were in Brooklyn, one was in Queens, and one was in Manhattan.

All of the top five plans called for residential or mixed-use residential buildings, with a total of 3,218 dwelling units.

Starrett Development was responsible for the largest plans from June or July. On July 28, the developer filed a permit application for construction of a 710-foot-tall, 62-story, 848,729-square-foot building with 1,021 dwelling units at 259 Clinton Street in the Two Bridges area of the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

The massive development has been in the pipeline for years. A court’s ruling last summer that the project met zoning regulations for the area and would be able to move forward without City Council approval indicated the plans could be on the way soon.

The developer, along with L+M Development Partners, CIM Group, and JDS Development Group have all been planning large developments in the area which could bring approximately 3,000 units to the neighborhood.

Plans for the second largest building of the two-month span came from Lloyd Goldman’s BLDG Management, on June 15. The permit application called for the construction of a 794-foot tall, 69-story, 650,090-square-foot mixed-use building with 818 units at 42-02 Orchard Street in Long Island City, Queens.

The Goldman family has had ownership of this parcel since at least 1966, when Sol Goldman and his brother Irving Goldman, who is Lloyd Goldman’s father, were given a loan secured by the property.

The building, which will be designed by Perkins Eastman, will have several retail spaces, according to the plans.

Lendlease’s plans for a 145-foot tall, 14-story, 437,596-square-foot mixed-use building with 477 dwelling units at 1 Java Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, were the third largest plans of the period. The plans, which were filed on June 22, were first released with partner Aware Super back in 2018. At the time, the project was estimated to have a value of $718 million.

Lendlease then released more detailed plans in April to transform the full city block site into a mixed-use development, including approximately 800 residential rental units, with 30 percent of the apartments designated as affordable housing under the Affordable New York Housing Program. The entire site is 2.6 acres.

The fourth largest plans were filed by Joy Construction on July 9. The permit application called for the construction of a 356-foot-tall, 33-story, 389,226-square-foot mixed-use building with 465 dwelling units at 202 Tillary Street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

Jorge Madruga’s Maddd Equities and Eli Weiss’ Joy Construction closed on the purchase of the site for $30 million in August of 2018.

The fifth-largest plans were from L+M Development Partners and filed on July 16. The plans called for the construction of a 161-foot tall, 15-story, 386,362-square-foot mixed-use building with 437 dwelling units at 888 Fountain Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn.

Per the plans, the building will have several retail spaces.

The 8.1 million square feet of new construction filed for over the two months were the most during any two month span since April and May of last year.

PincusCo looked at all new building (NB) filings of 2,000-square-feet and above. For residential buildings, the analysis covered those with four or more units, and did not include residential units in hotel (R-1) buildings.

The total number of residential units filed for in June and July also increased significantly both months. There were 2,988 residential units filed for in June followed by 3,613 filed for in July. Once again the combined residential units between the two months was the most out of any two month span since April and May of last year.