Construction on The Warehouse in
Chelsea goes on despite virus
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
New York City is continuing to
slowly reopen. As the COVID-19
pandemic trudges on, the city’s
commercial real estate market has taken a
steep hit as more businesses are shifting to
working from home.
Yet crews are still working their way
to fi nish construction on The Warehouse
in Manhattan, a repurposed factory that
effortlessly blends old school, rustic charms
with modern upgrades — and both buildings
have incredible views of the city.
Comfortably situated on the far west side
of Chelsea, the Warehouse was originally
a warehousing and distribution facility for
the Carolina Manufacturing Company. Located
at 520 West 20th Street, the property
has been owned by Elijah Equities for the
last 50 years.
The Warehouse is currently under
construction to allow the ground fl oor to
act as retail spaces while the upper fl oors
will be offi ce spaces. When it came to
The Warehouse.
construction, it was incredibly important
for the team at Elijah Equities to maintain
the original brick exterior. Originally fi ve
stories high, another two stories and a
rooftop space were built on top and made
PHOTO BY EMILY DAVENPORT
to look like the new, modern-looking fl oors
were fl oating on top, plus some new windows
were installed.
To address sanitation concerns amidst
COVID-19, the development team decided
to program elevators to be operated via
phone, for an entirely touch-free experience.
The building will also feature waiveto
open lobby doors.
The Warehouse offers views of Chelsea
Piers and the High Line, as well as some
Manhattan skylines, which are accessible
from most of their outdoor spaces. The
rooftop will function as an outdoor space
with sitting areas and plenty of room to
roam.
In between the old building structure
and the new fl oors, there is a 360-wraparound
outdoor space that offers a shady
outdoor space. The second fl oor was repurposed
with a balcony, an uncommon trait
in Manhattan, with a new wall.
All of the offi ce spaces in the Warehouse
have been left as a blank slate for potential
tenants to transform into their own spaces.
The lower fl oors have some beams for
support, while the upper fl oors have no
support beams in the offi ce space.
For more information on the Warehouse,
visit 520west20.com.
MTA to end For Hire Vehicle program at end
of the month citing high costs
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
The MTA is ending its temporary For
Hire Vehicle (FHV) program, leaving
New Yorkers without an option
for overnight public transportation.
The program will end effective Aug. 30
at 5 a.m. The MTA cited high costs and the
fi scal crisis for ceasing operations.
“At the height of the pandemic, it was
critically important to ensure essential
workers who were subway-dependent
could get to overnight shifts reliably, and
without spending considerably more time
on their commute than they were used
to,” said Sarah Feinberg, New York City
Transit Interim President. “We are proud
of how quickly and effi ciently we were able
to stand up a program of this magnitude.
Given our signifi cant fi nancial challenges,
we are unfortunately no longer able to
provide this service to the limited number
of people it was serving sporadically, and
the even smaller population it was serving
regularly. We have recently added three
new bus routes – all of which we believe
will signifi cantly assist our overnight passengers
in this transition.”
The FHV program was launched in May
this year as an alternative to overnight
subway service, which had been suspended
so subway stations and cars could be disinfected
and cleaned thoroughly during
the pandemic. Since the program began,
roughly 1,500 customers have been using
the service per night, costing the MTA over
$6 million with the average cost per trip
being $49.
To assist those who have come to rely
on the FHV service, the MTA is adding
three more bus routes that mirror the more
frequented trips that were taken by FHV
program users. Metro-North Railroad
and Long Island Rail Road will also crosshonor
fares from stations in NYC during
overnight hours when the subway is closed.
MTA also added three new interborough
express options–the B99, the M99 and
the Bx99. The B99 connects Midwood in
Brooklyn to Midtown West and follows
a similar route to the 2 train. The Bx99
connects the Woodlawn section of the
Bronx with Manhattan’s West Village. The
route travels on Jerome Avenue and down
the east side of Manhattan much like the
4 train does. It then crosses west on 57th
Street and travels south to the West Village.
The new M99 route runs between East
New York, Brooklyn and Hell’s Kitchen,
via 14th Street in Manhattan.
“New Yorkers need Governor Cuomo
to reopen the subway overnight. Nighttime
riders from healthcare to hospitality have
some of the longest, hardest commutes. To
truly come back, New York needs a subway
that never sleeps,” Riders Alliance Community
Organizer Danna Dennis said in a
statement. “Rather than half measures like
Essential Connector, the governor needs a
solution to keep riders safe and get everyone
where they need to go all day, every
day. Restoring our 24/7 subway system will
go a long way toward this goal and must be
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MTA VIA FLICKR done immediately.”
Schneps Media August 27, 2020 3
/520west20.com
