RED HOOK — A luxury developer plans to draw local artists to Red Hook with “affordable” studios and apartments in a soon-to-be recreated waterfront building, they said.
Est4te Four, which is planning to break ground in the former New York Dock Building in November, hopes to build a “creative hub” in Red Hook by marketing the building’s units to local artists, musicians and models.
“We want to mix the world of fashion, art, music,” said Massimiliano Senise, a partner at the Los Angeles-based firm that purchased the 160 Imlay St. building last year for about $25 million.
The developer also bought a red brick warehouse at 202 Coffey St. for $11.8 million, which he also plans to convert to a mixed-use space.
Construction on the Dock Building on Imlay Street will begin in November while the Coffey Street building is expected to begin by the end of the year.
Senise estimated a construction period of 18 to 24 months for Imlay Street and just about 12 months for Coffey Street, he said.
But as early as next month, units in the two buildings could be marketed and sold as soon as their offering plan — which details the physical aspects of the building — is approved by the state attorney general, said Senise.
The Imlay Street building will hold commercial space on the first two floors and a restaurant and grocery store at street level, as DNAinfo New York reported last year.
Residential units and artists’ studios will fill the upper floors along with a rooftop pool in the Dock Building, which will hold a total of 70 units, Senise said.
Senise declined to discuss the price of the building units, but said it would fit “all kinds of pockets” and would be “definitely affordable.”
“I’m going to market the place as a space for creative people,” he said.
One source familiar with the projects, who spoke to DNAinfo New York last year on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss financial details with the press, said residential units at the Dock Building will start at about $500,000.
The Coffey Street project will hold five studios and exhibition spaces along with one or two open-air courtyards in the middle, “a creative little mixed center,” said Matthew Goodwin, a project manager for Adjmi and Andreoli, a New York architecture firm that’s overseeing the design of both projects.
Est4te Four, which relocated to California from London, has gained worldwide acclaim for their work Zona Tortona a 3.5 million-square-foot fashion complex in Milan.
Their latest New York development at 50 Varick St., is a 130,000-square-foot space that is currently occupied by Spring Studios, a London-based film production firm.
“We are very connected to the world of fashion, art and design,” said Senise.
