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For Sale in Coney Island: 3 Blocks of Vacant Land Across from MCU Park

Posted in Coney Island Redevelopment, Real Estate, tagged Coney Island, development opportunity, iStar Financial, Surf Avenue, Surf Avenue Assemblage, Taconic Investment Partners on February 25, 2014| 8 Comments »

On the Market: Taconic’s former ‘Coney Island North Venture,’ vacant parcels of land on north side of Surf Ave. between W 16th and W 20th Streets

Last year, the landmark Childs Building on the Boardwalk and a neighboring lot zoned for condos became part of iStar Financial’s portfolio when Taconic Investment Partners, which acquired the properties in 2005, defaulted on loans. Now the other shoe has dropped. Taconic’s former “Coney Island North Venture,” three city blocks on the north side of Surf Avenue across from the Brooklyn Cyclones stadium totaling over 100,000 square feet of vacant land, is on the market.

ATZ learned of the offering from Coney Island broker Joe Vitacco. Neither Taconic nor iStar is mentioned in a two-page teaser for “Surf Avenue Assemblage: Prime Coney Island Mixed Use Development Opportunity.” Nor is the price. Interested persons are required to sign a nondisclosure agreement with the listing broker to find out additional info.

According to the brokers, R7-X and C2-4 zoning allows for approximately 380,426 buildable square feet as-of-right or up to 507,235 buildable square feet with inclusionary housing on 101,447 square feet of parcels. Combined Assessment/Taxes Due for 2013 and ’14 are $1,668,753/$185,488.

“Buyers can also explore a larger assemblage opportunity by incorporating adjacent sites currently owned by HPD,” says the flier. “Developers will also be able to take advantage of the property’s significant retail frontage. With few assemblages of this scale ever coming to market, the Surf Avenue Assemblage represents a unique opportunity to develop a project in one of New York City’s most dynamic submarkets.”

Coney Island Aerial: Detail of Conceptual Rendering. CIDC Press Kit

Coney Island Aerial: Detail of Conceptual Rendering Shows Residential Towers West and North of the Brooklyn Cyclones Stadium. CIDC Press Kit, 2009

Up until a few years ago when they fell silent, Taconic Investment Partners planned to build a glittering city of high-rise apartments and retail west and north of MCU Park. Their Senior VP of Acquisitions and his colleagues were a regular presence at hearings leading up to the Coney Island Rezoning of July 2009. According to Taconic’s website, the rezoning “significantly increased our buildable floor areas for mixed-use residential and retail projects to between 1.8 million and 2.4 million square feet, with the potential to create nearly 2,000 residential units and more than 200,000 square feet of retail space.”

The parcels between W 16th and W 20th Streets have been vacant since the wave of urban renewal in the 1960s and 1970s, says Coney Island History Project director Charles Denson, who grew up a few blocks away and documented the razing of the neighborhood in his photos. The RKO Tilyou, operated by the Tilyou family across the street from their Steeplechase Park on Surf at West 17th was demolished in 1973.

Rendering of Coney Island North and South Venture, Taconic Real Estate Investment Partners

Taconic’s plans for their “Coney Island North and South Venture” remain on their website. Only the players are changing.

As Taconic CEO William Bendit told Eliot Brown of the New York Observer in an interview in 2009: “What attracted us to Coney Island was the fact that it’s vacant land—we didn’t have to dispossess anybody, relocate anybody. And it’s the beachfront. How much beachfront land is there in New York City? Not only that, but beachfront land that’s accessible to the subway. So, if you think about it, how many young people, or anybody, for that matter, would like to commute into New York or Brooklyn, and go home at night and live on the beach?”

New Year, New Franchise: Rita’s Italian Ice Coming to Coney Island

Posted in Food, News, Real Estate, Redevelopment, tagged Coney Island, franchise, frozen custard, Italian ice, Rita's Italian Ice, store, Surf Avenue on January 3, 2014| 2 Comments »

Frozen custard from Rita’s Italian Ice. Photo via Facebook.com/RitasItalianIceCompany

The year is only three days old and already another new franchise is set to come to Coney Island in 2014. Rita’s Italian Ice, a company whose tag line is “Ice, Custard and Happiness” will open a store on Surf Avenue in Coney Island. Broker Joe Vitacco tells ATZ he signed a lease with a Rita’s franchise owner for the 1,500 square foot space at 1329 Surf Avenue, on the corner of Surf and West 15th Street. The store is located across the street from Nathan’s and Williams Candy and is expected to be open seasonally, probably from March through October. The current tenant, a social club, will move next door.

Rita’s menu offers Italian ice, frozen custard, layered gelati, sundaes with a choice of 20 toppings, sugar-free treats, and trademark items that blend Italian ice with frozen custard.

Frozen custard is of course one of the lost delights of Coney Island. The dessert made its debut in 1919 when the Kohr brothers opened a stand on the Coney Island Boardwalk. The nickel treat was a sensation, selling 18,460 cones on the first weekend!

Frozen custard sundae with toppings from Rita’s Italian Ice. Photo via Facebook.com/RitasItalianIceCompany

Kohr’s Frozen Custard is still in business on the Boardwalks at Seaside Heights and Casino Pier on the Jersey Shore but Kohr’s has shown no interest in making a Coney Island comeback. Businesses in Coney Island which sell ice cream, gelato and soft serve haven’t made any move to bring back frozen custard either, despite the recommendations of old-timers. It’s ironic that thanks to a popular international chain headquartered in Trevose, Pennyslvania, we can look forward to the return of this treat to its place of origin and the celebration of National Frozen Custard Day on August 8th.

Rita’s has over 600 outlets in 21 states and is the latest of a growing number of national and international franchises and chains leasing space on high-priced Surf Avenue in the new Coney Island.

Back in 2012, ATZ asked “Will Coney Island’s Surf Ave Become a Mecca for Franchises?” (December 19, 2012). Clearly, the answer is yes. Like attracts like. In 2014, Johnny Rockets, Red Mango and Subway Cafe, which are currently under construction, will join It’Sugar, Applebee’s, Popeye’s, Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins and Subway on the main drag of Coney’s amusement district. Also on Surf and in a category unto itself is Nathan’s original 1916 store, which is a year-round magnet for tourists, and Brooklyn-grown Grimaldi’s Pizzeria.

According to the franchise’s website, Rita’s is the world’s largest Italian ice concept and opened its first international outlet in October in Shenzhen, China. The franchisor for Southern China plans to open 31 outlets over 10 years.

Rita’s Italian Ice, Yonkers, NY Store. Via Facebook.com/RitasItalianIceCompany

In the New York metro area, Rita’s year-round locations are on Broadway at 92nd Street in Manhattan –the only store in New York City–and several locations in New Jersey, including Hoboken, and the Izod Center and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. The majority of stores in New York and neighboring states such as New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennyslvania are open seasonally from March through October. Investment firm Falconhead Capital LLC owns a controlling interest in Rita’s, which was founded in 1984 as a Mom-and-Pop product sold from a porch window in Philadelphia.

Pre-Dawn Bulldozing of Coney Island Community Garden

Posted in News, Real Estate, Redevelopment, tagged amphitheater, Childs Building, community garden, Coney Island, iStar Financial, New York City Community Garden Coalition on December 29, 2013| 9 Comments »

The Bulldozing of Boardwalk Community Garden. Coney Island December 28, 2013. Photo via Facebook.com/NYCCGC

If you find a bunny under the Coney Island boardwalk, he ran off during the bulldozing of the Boardwalk community garden on Saturday morning. This isn’t a “coney” joke, but something we learned from the site manager. And when a gardener collected her chickens she also walked off with three kittens. The mama cat kept coming back all day looking for them. Such was the chaos that ensued in the animal kingdom when the 16-year-old boardwalk garden was abruptly razed and the plants were plowed under on Saturday to make way for the seating area for an amphitheater slated to open in June 2015.

We support the rehab of the landmark Childs Building, which tourists frequently refer to as “those ruins on the Boardwalk.” But it’s barbaric to bulldoze a garden, especially at 5am on a holiday weekend, no matter the circumstances. Waking up to photos and videos of the destruction posted on Facebook brought back memories of the infamous pre-dawn demolition of the Thunderbolt roller coaster by Mayor Giuliani in 2000. It also calls to mind Thor Equities CEO Joe Sitt’s demo of the Henderson Music Hall and Bank of Coney Island in 2010, which cruelly put a halt to Save Coney Island’s efforts to create a historic district.

The community gardeners along with the New York City Community Garden Coalition are expected to call a press conference to address the demolition in the next couple of days. “The Community and the NYCCGC will not let this action stand without a fight,” said the Coalition in a post on their Facebook page. [UPDATE: The press conference will be on Monday, December 30, 11 am, at 3099 W 22nd Street, between Surf Avenue and the Boardwalk, said NYCCGC in a release issued this afternoon.]

Bulldozed Boardwalk Community Garden. Coney Island. Photo by Anonymouse. December 28, 2013.

As previously noted (“Clock Ticking on Plan for the Landmark Childs Building,” ATZ, September 25, 2013), the City has the funds to bring the landmark back to life since Borough President Marty Markowitz will be able to use $50 million set aside in 2010 for a $64 million amphitheater in Asser Levy Park that was halted by a lawsuit. If the $50 million isn’t spent by the time the Borough President’s third term ends on December 31, 2013, it would go back into the public coffers and be lost to Coney Island. The landmark building’s deteriorating condition is also cause for concern. After Sandy, parts of the terracotta facade cracked and began falling off.

Photographer and Model in front of Landmark Childs Building on the Coney Island Boardwalk. September 22, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita

Just before Christmas, developer iStar Financial won approval from the City Council for the amphitheater project. The officially “decommissioned” garden was set to be relocated to a site five blocks away. Why was it necessary to raze it, without giving the gardeners an opportunity to collect their belongings and animals and make the move? Among the items that were reportedly destroyed was a “Coney totem,” a sculpture by artist Philomena Marano.

Garden furniture on corner of lot after bulldozing of Boardwalk Community Garden. December 28, 2013. Photo by Anonymouse

Marty Cottingham, a consultant to iStar, cited safety concerns and the need to do environmental testing and, if necessary, remediation as required by the DEP for property that was flooded during Sandy. “We have taken great lengths to do the right thing,” he told ATZ, noting that some items were put in the Childs Building and are available for pick-up. Improvements have been made at the alternate garden site, known as Surfside Garden, on Surf Avenue at 29th Street, including new topsoil and raised beds. Some gardeners say the new site is not suitable due its smaller footprint and being hemmed in by buildings. Others who were promised help relocating felt betrayed by the lack of warning.

Seaside Park and Community Arts Center, Stage Doors and Tower in Season, 3D Rendering

The amphitheater project will be developed and operated by a partnership between an affiliate of iStar’s Coney Island Holdings LLC and non-profit Coney Island USA with $53 million in City capital funds, and involves the restoration and adaptive reuse of the Childs building as well as the development of a 5,100 seat amphitheater with a neighborhood park and playground on city-owned land overlooking the beachfront. In addition to approximately 40 to 50 free and paid concerts during the outdoor concert season, the developer promises to host community-based events throughout the year.

The Childs Building along with adjacent lots rezoned for high rise condos became part of iStar’s portfolio when Taconic Investment Partners defaulted on loans. 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 5.5 blocks of vacant land just west of MCU Park.

Coney Island Aerial: Detail of Conceptual Rendering Shows Residential Towers West and North of MCU Park. CIDC Press Kit, 2007