Plague of Lotus?
November 27, 2006
The Lotus - 610 Union Avenue: The Lights Are on, But No One’s Home
This gem of internationalist design (think Brasilia) seemed to rocket through construction, appearing in what seemed like a matter of weeks. Before I realized, The Lotus on McCarren Park in Greenpoint was seemingly finished, replete with “Orientalist” detailed railings, a banner, and a shiny almost day-glo green exterior. Any minute, I expected a horde or swinging bachelors, baseball players, or other cash-rich people who wanted to pick up a one-bedroom (19 units, all one-bedrooms) for about $819psf. Instead, it has sat empty, with staged furniture peeking out of vacant apartments, a sagging for-sale banner, and occasional vandalism. How does this happen to a building that seemingly sailed through construction, and 16 of 19 units have either sold are in contract?
Project Backgroud: The Lotus is built on a former junkyard (welcome to Greenpoint baby!) and the site was considered a HAZMAT which is not atypical in areas once used for manufacturing. It looks like the planning started for the building in 2003, with permits being issued 2004.
DOB: The Department of Buildings shows that The Louts has hit a few bumps during construction, including work without a permit in 2004, a collapsing construction fence (2005) and failure to provide plans on the building site (2006). All of these problems were remedied to the satisfaction of DOB, some resulted in fines. In 2004 the project got stung with working during illegal hours (weekends), and a stop work order was issued in 2005 after complaints of “excessive debris” and lack of safety netting.
Currently the project does not have a Certificate of Occupancy that would allow residents. The only Certificate of Occupancy I could find is from 1954, allowing “salvage, storage and resale of scrap iron and steel.” So, if you bought and closed on an apartment in this building, tied up 3/4 of a million dollars in an apartment you can’t move into, maybe at least you could store scrap metal inside?
Any word on when people might be able to move in, or why a seemingly complete building is still empty/can’t get the Certificate of Occupancy?
[The broken window theory - small damage while the building sits vacant]
