Beachfront Condos Under Construction on Boardwalk at 32nd St, Coney Island. December 18, 2011. Photo © Bruce Handy. All Rights Reserved
Over the weekend ATZ got to wondering whatever happened to the condos under construction on the Boardwalk at West 32nd Street? There continues to be a lot of interest in this property. “New Construction: Coney Island’s 1st Private Beachfront Condos on Boardwalk” (ATZ, February 17, 2011) is among Amusing the Zillion’s Top 10 Coney Island News Stories of 2011, our year-end post, which we’re working on now.
Coney Island photographer Bruce Handy, whose Sunday walk took him in that direction, sent us the above photo. “There were no for sale or rent signs on the condo fence, only construction signs,” he said. It turns out the four-story building, which has 11 units including 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments, is still under construction. Though it appears to be almost finished, construction is stalled for now. According to the DOB website, there’s a partial stop work order on the property due to two open ECB “Work Without A Permit” Violations. One is for doing electrical work on a Saturday without a variance permit. The second is for installing scaffolding without a permit. An administrative hearing is pending.
Beachfront Condos Under Construction on Boardwalk at 32nd St, Coney Island. February 17, 2011. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via Android
The long-vacant, 6,779-square-foot beachfront lot was purchased by New Vision Capital for $1.5 million in 2009. “NVC’s primary focus is the identification of intermediate and longer term opportunities, where positive cash flow and/or impressive capital appreciation are anticipated,” the company’s website says. On Monday, a rep at NVC told ATZ that they hope to complete construction by year’s end and that the penthouse and a few of the three bedrooms are sold. Current prices are $510,000 for a one-bedroom, $685,000 for a two-bedroom and $840,00 to $910,000 for a three-bedroom unit. In February, the asking price for the penthouse was $1.55 million. As we wrote then:
Located in the West End of Coney Island, across the street from the NYC Housing Authority’s Coney Island Houses, this new construction is a harbinger of more beachfront residential to come. The rezoning plan approved by the City Council in 2009 put 26 high rise residential towers and 5,000 new units of housing in Coney Island, including beachfront condos on Taconic Investment Partners 5.5 blocks of vacant land just west of MCU Park (West 20th Street).
Coney Island Aerial: Detail of Conceptual Rendering Shows Residential Towers West and North of MCU Park. CIDC Press Kit
Related posts on ATZ…
February 17, 2011: New Construction: Coney Island’s 1st Private Beachfront Condos on Boardwalk
January 1, 2011: Amusing the Zillion’s Top 10 Coney Island News Stories of 2010
January 11, 2010: Steeplechase Pool, Zip Coaster Sites to Be De-Mapped for Housing
Amusing the Zillion 
What happened to Abe Stark Ice Skating Rink and it’s Parking lot (used for Cyclones games)?
Both are still there The rink is open to the public for skating on weekends.
It is also used by local hockey teams and H.S. leagues http://www.nycgovparks.org/facilities/iceskating/1
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It was only a matter of time before developers would realize the potential of building on the west end of Coney Island. There is a limited amount of area available because of Sea Gate and the existing housing. I don’t know if they would be able to block the beach. The one drawback would the Con-Ed bill which be huge because of the eletric fences & cameras needed.
I love that you guys are making it snow on your website! Very cool. (sorry this comment didn’t have anything to do with the story, but it was so cool, I had to say it)
I don’t see this project as controversial since the lot has been vacant since 1982 and the area is already residential. Also, it was not part of the rezoning. But it is newsworthy as the first private beachfront condo construction and a harbinger of things to come further east, where land formerly zoned for amusements was rezoned for high rise condos. It’s not surprising people are waiting to see how it fares.
This was the site of Sam’s Knishes and Larry & Vinny’s Pizza. I spent many summers there as kid growing up in the Coney Island Houses. That was the 1960s. It is incredibly optimistic of the developers to think that these condos can be viable next to a housing project notorious for its high crime rate. Whenever I’m visiting I make a visit to the projects and it is truly sad now. This is a good shot of the corner in question when Larry & Vinny’s was still open inthe summer of 2000. At the 5:40 mark
Joey, thanks for posting and for the link to your video. You’re lucky to be able to go home again to your childhood home!
Re Coney Island development, some feel it will held back by the projects, while others believe gentrification is inevitable here as elsewhere. The proximity of public housing hasn’t stopped developers from building luxury projects in other New York City neighborhoods.
In addition to this trailblazing little 11 unit condo on 32nd St, another much bigger project–400 market rate condos and retail between 36th and 37th Streets– was in the news in April. Called Ocean Dreams (echoes of Brighton Beach’s very successful Oceana?), it’s a project of John Catsimatidis, CEO of Red Apple & Gristedes, and is expected to have a supermarket too. Since these buildings are 14 -22 stories, it did require rezoning, which went through. More info and renderings here:
http://archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=5318
Charles Denson’s photo tribute to Larry and Vinny’s Pizza on CIHP’s blog “Ask Mr Coney Island”…
http://www.coneyislandhistory.org/mrconey/?p=208
Sam’s knishes were reputedly the best in Coney Island, even better than Mrs.
Schatzkin’s, but, unfortunately, I never got to taste them…my loss.