150 M Deal on Far West Side
[NYPost] 9/05/06 -- THE lure of the far West Side has drawn DUMBO developer David Walentas back to the Manhattan development scene for the first time in 25 years.
Walentas' Two Trees Management Co. has a contract to buy a vast Eleventh Avenue site where it hopes to build up to 1,000 apartments, The Post has learned.
Walentas will pay Verizon $130 million for most of the block on the east side of the avenue between 53rd and 54th streets.
The renowned DUMBO developer wants the city to rezone the land from its current manufacturing-commercial designation to residential, which would enable him to build apartments as well as new stores, parking and community-use facilities.
Two Trees did several successful Manhattan projects starting 40 years ago. "Then," Walentas says, "25 years ago, we went to DUMBO and fell in love. It's been a life venture, and this is our first venture in Manhattan since going to Brooklyn."
Right now, the Eleventh Avenue site is an unsightly blur of parking lots and a few 1-story buildings. Walentas is buying the whole block except for the old Verizon building at 811 Tenth Ave.
"Much of the land around it has already been rezoned but not this one," Walentas said. "We've already had informal talks with the City Planning Commission, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Community Board 4."
What Walentas can build will hinge on rezoning and negotiations with the city. It could be a mix of market-rate and affordable housing.
Although Walentas started out in Manhattan with such projects as transforming Alwyn Court, his name has been synonymous with Brooklyn for decades. He virtually owns DUMBO near the Manhattan Bridge, where Two Trees developed 1.6 million square of commercial space and 800 rental and condo apartments.
Walentas' Two Trees Management Co. has a contract to buy a vast Eleventh Avenue site where it hopes to build up to 1,000 apartments, The Post has learned.
Walentas will pay Verizon $130 million for most of the block on the east side of the avenue between 53rd and 54th streets.
The renowned DUMBO developer wants the city to rezone the land from its current manufacturing-commercial designation to residential, which would enable him to build apartments as well as new stores, parking and community-use facilities.
Two Trees did several successful Manhattan projects starting 40 years ago. "Then," Walentas says, "25 years ago, we went to DUMBO and fell in love. It's been a life venture, and this is our first venture in Manhattan since going to Brooklyn."
Right now, the Eleventh Avenue site is an unsightly blur of parking lots and a few 1-story buildings. Walentas is buying the whole block except for the old Verizon building at 811 Tenth Ave.
"Much of the land around it has already been rezoned but not this one," Walentas said. "We've already had informal talks with the City Planning Commission, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Community Board 4."
What Walentas can build will hinge on rezoning and negotiations with the city. It could be a mix of market-rate and affordable housing.
Although Walentas started out in Manhattan with such projects as transforming Alwyn Court, his name has been synonymous with Brooklyn for decades. He virtually owns DUMBO near the Manhattan Bridge, where Two Trees developed 1.6 million square of commercial space and 800 rental and condo apartments.
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