By Suzanne Ma
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER EAST SIDE – Around the corner from Katz's Deli, Ludlow's tenement-lined street is punctuated with three stalled construction projects, all within a block of one another.
171 Ludlow St., 179 Ludlow St., and 180 Ludlow St. are all unfinished high rises – future condominiums and boutique hotels – fenced off by cement barriers and steel scaffolding plastered by peeling posters.
There are at least 80 stalled construction sites like these across Manhattan, according to the Department of Buildings, much to the annoyance of local residents, business owners, and developers, as they struggle to secure financing in a bad economy.
In the case of 180 Ludlow, funding fell through for the 19-story boutique hotel that was to feature 170 guest rooms, a signature restaurant, a basement spa, a fitness center, a business center, a sun deck and an exclusive rooftop lounge.
Now, developer Serge Hoyda plans to convert the site into residential rental apartments and, this week, members of Community Board 3 passed a resolution in support of the conversion, saying it was better to allow the change than to have the project stalled.
Joel Feingold, a community organizer with housing advocacy group Good Old Lower East Side, welcomed the conversion, saying a hotel would have been "disastrous" for the community.
"The Lower East Side has an affordable housing crisis and the last thing we need is another hotel that would be charging high rates," he said.
At the community board meeting, Hoyda’s lawyer, Jessica Loeser, outlined the new plans, which include 158 rent-stabilized apartments, mostly studios, that would rent for $1,200 to $1,300 a month.
She offered as an "act of good faith" to provide five affordable apartments, and agreed to open up the building's meeting room to the community and to refrain from leasing the ground floor retail space to a bar or restaurant with a liquor license. She also said Hoyda would make an effort to use local resources and hire local workers for the construction and operation of the building.
"The process will be completely transparent in every way possible," Loeser said.
But Feingold said he was disappointed that only five units would be made affordable.
"It's sort of a slap in the face," he said. "The Lower East Side has always been a neighborhood for immigrants and workers. It really needs more affordable housing."
Colleen Fitzgibbon, who has lived near Ludlow Street for 30 years, worried about how the new developments would change the area.
"It's now very bohemian," she said. "A lot of artists are living here, musicians. Unfortunately, they started building huge corporate buildings like these and it's changed the nature of the neighborhood."
Marco Megira, owner of the EarthMatters organic food market on Ludlow St., said he just wanted the construction to be over.
Megira's store is sandwiched in between all three construction sites, causing his business to suffer.
"Let them finish what they started," he said. "Everybody in the neighborhood is going to be happy. What they need [is to] finish those monsters they built here. "
Hoyda, the developer, has applied for a variance with the city's Board of Standards and Appeals. The process may take several months before construction can re-start at 180 Ludlow.
