About Manhattan's Meat Packing District

By Kevin Korber of Village Confidential

The Blue Note jazz club has been a fixture in Greenwich Village’s music scene for more than 30 years, but now the famous jazz club is looking to expand. DNAInfo reports that the Blue Note is seeking permits to open a new location in the Meatpacking District.

The new club, which will likely not be called “Blue Note,” would be a three-floor venue at 22 Little West 12^th Street. Dining areas are planned for the sixth and seventh floors of the building, while the basement would be used as an 80-person-capacity venue. Blue Note owner Steve Bensusan said that he hopes the new venue would bring back “the late-night jam session in New York.”

Community reaction to the new venue was mixed. In a meeting with CB2’s State Liquor Authority advisory committee, residents expressed concern over a planned terrace on the seventh floor of the building. Locals were concerned that noise from an open terrace could not be sufficiently contained. Bensusan has reportedly scrapped the terrace from his plans.

The decision of the advisory committee was not available for press time.

The Village Pointe Condominium located at 350 West 14th Street is one of the only condominium buildings in the near vicinity of the Meat Packing District and near the High Line Park. The High Line Park has become a huge attraction for New Yorker's and tourists alike. It has also spurred a condomininium boom along it's path up the West Chelsea neighborhood. One of the benefits of this condominium development are some truly unique and fantastic condominium buildings such as 100 Eleventh Avenue, 200 Eleventh Avenue, The Caledonia, Chelsea Modern, but something to take into consideration is that with those amazing buildings also comes a higher price point.

That is where a building like the Village Pointe Condominium at 350 West 14th Street comes into play. If you are looking for a condo for sale near the High Line, but are looking at a different price point, than a condo like 350 West 14th St is something that you will have to consider. Located at the corner of 9th Avenue and 14th Street, the Village Pointe Condominium is right at the corner of where the Meat Packing District begins and minutes away from the entrance of the High Line Park.

The Village Pointe Condominium at 350 West 14th Street is a non-doorman elevator condominium building. It has laundry and a live-in super. What it may lack in amenities it makes up for in affordable priced condominiums for the West Chelsea, Meat Packing , West village neighborhood. Common charges and real estate taxes are very low, so once you purchase you will not have a huge common charge bill. The Village Pointe Condominium makes a great investment property as the neighborhood is highly desired and just getting better, while you are purchasing at a very attractive price.

• 1 Bedrooms in the building have sold in 2010 and 2011 in a range of around $600,000-$700,000 depending on the size, condition, and exposure.
• 1 Bedroom Duplexes with private terraces have sold in the $915,000-1,000,000 range. This type of apartment is extremely rare in this neighborhood.
• Studio's have sold in the building for approximately $500,000. Again size, view and exposure will determine the exact pricing.
• Two Bedrooms have started around $1,000,000 and go up to about $1,250,000

The Village Pointe Condominium is desirable as it's an already established condominium building near the High Line, near everything the Meat Packing District has to offer including the Chelsea Market, nightlife, shopping, restaurants, hotels. You are still close to a number of subway stations that have multiple entrances along 14th Street.

This condominium building is perfect for that individual who wants a condominium near the High Line and everything that comes with it, but doesn't want to spend million's for an apartment. If you are looking to invest in a condo near the High Line, I'd highly encourage the Village Pointe Condominium as a great building to look into as a flexible sublet policy, low carrying charges make it a great investment.

Contact us today at (917)837-8869 to discuss condominiums for sale near the High Line and the Village Pointe Condominium at 350 West 14th Street.

By Kevin Korber of Village Confidential

The Art Deco warehouse at 437 West 13th Street was purchased two years ago, with plans to turn the warehouse into a twelve-story glass tower. Now, it seems that those plans are about to come to fruition: a demolition permit has officially been filed to make way for the new Meatpacking District development.

The long-proposed Meatpacking District development at 437 West 13^th Street has been a point of contention among neighborhood residents for years. Preservationist groups like the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation had been lobbying to protect the warehouse, going as far as to have it placed on the state and national register for historic buildings. However, its inclusion on that list does not prevent its demolition, nor do the owners of the Meatpacking District development have to run their plans by the Landmark Preservation Committee, which oversees any development in historic neighborhoods.

The future for 437 West 13^th Street is, as of now, a 175-foot tall glass tower, designed to house big-box retail on its bottom floor and office space for the remaining eleven stories of the building. The development ran into some trouble earlier this year over the proposed height of the tower: the originally proposed height of 250 feet was far beyond the zoning specifications of the neighborhood, but the developers argued that the High Line Park-which cuts through the property-creates a “hardship” that “prevents [the developers] from taking full advantage of the site.”

Neither Community Board 2 nor the Board of Standards and Appeals seem to agree with the developers on that issue, but the project was ultimately approved, and a new look for 437 West 13^th Street appears to be on the horizon.

On Friday October 8th, between 6pm and 9pm, the streets of the Meatpacking District will be electric as the neighborhood hosts 'Meatpacking Uncorked presented by The Corcoran Group'.

Enjoy wine tasting and food sampling accompanied by dazzling street performances. The district's chic boutiques will flow with the finest wines and the neighborhood's best restaurants will be serving samplings of their signature snacks. Toasting, tasting and shopping in the district will be infused with performance artists, musicians, and other sexy and sophisticated spectacles.

Want to join us at the Meatpacking Uncorked event? We're giving away a pair of tickets. Enter here before September 30th to win!

Visit our booth at 9th Avenue and Little West 12th Street and pick up your free wine cap. Check in at our booth on Foursquare and also receive a special gift!

You can also follow the corcoran group throughout the weekend's New York Wine and Food Festival's activities by connecting with us on any of the above services. Find out who we're chatting with, the foods we're sampling, and get the inside scoop on one of New York's most exciting downtown events.