Three Sides to This Condo Story - Jesse Keyes

FOR developers, triangular buildings have often posed a bit of a problem.

If lined with enough windows, their tapered corners can draw generous amounts of sunlight. But how do you squeeze conventionally sized furniture into all those sharp points?

“A big couch or a grand piano is going to fit much more easily into a rectangle,” said Carol Willis, the founder and director of New York’s Skyscraper Museum, which has featured exhibits about the Flatiron Building, a well-known three-sided Manhattan edifice.

“It’s why residential developers have mostly stayed away from them,” she said.

But that’s changing with One 7th, a new triangular luxury condominium in the West Village, whose distinctive glass prow juts from the meeting point of Carmine Street and Seventh Avenue South.

The developer, Jesse Keyes, a principal of the New York-based REcappartners, whose portfolio is entirely residential buildings, including properties in Indonesia and the Dominican Republic, says ship allusions are apt.

“Looking out from the point is like floating on the water, with a feeling of movement from Seventh Avenue,” Mr. Keyes said.

Three of the four units in the building, which is sheathed in gray brick with manganese flecks, share the same size and layout, with two bedrooms, two baths and 1,300 square feet.

Living rooms occupy their glass points, which measure 46 degrees, Mr. Keyes said, while the master bath showers take up the 44-degree northern angle.

One 7th also contains a duplex penthouse, with three bedrooms, three baths and 2,100 square feet of space, as well as 900 square feet of private outdoor space, split between upper and lower terraces.

Throughout, the finishes include walnut floors and stainless steel counters. Each residence will also have a 45-square-foot basement storage space. Construction, which began in June 2006, is expected to be finished in October, Mr. Keyes said.

For the two-bedrooms, prices are $1.95 million to $2.05 million, and the penthouse is $4.45 million, according to Kevin King, an agent for Prudential Douglas Elliman, which is handling sales.

No units have sold yet, according to Mr. King, though sales officially began in April.

The building also has a 1,100-square-foot ground-floor commercial berth, which an Italian company that makes gelato may lease for $125 a square foot, Mr. Keyes said. The lot, which cost $2.5 million and which used to house a gasoline station, had languished on the market for years, as other developers were turned off by its odd configuration, Mr. Keyes said. (Building on it also required the removal of four 500-gallon gas tanks.)

“But I was looking for a development opportunity,” he said, “to make a statement.” 

Resource:- https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/realestate/12post.html

The New York City Nightlife Industry as an Economic and Cultural Foundation for Labor Development By Jesse Keyes

The New York City nightlife industry produces thousands of high paying service sector jobs that provide a powerful economic foundation for the city’s labor force. Moreover, nightlife venues furnish an important place of engagement for those who aim to develop human capital to enable movement outside of the industry, as well as supporting the ambitions of cooks and careerists inside the industry. While studies have looked specifically at the importance of artists in a regional economy[1] and the nature of nightlife as a “central nexus between commerce and culture,”[2] the proposed dissertation aims to understand the extent to which the nightlife economy can directly underwrite investment into and the development of labor force economic opportunity, and particularly of artistic endeavors. In so doing, this thesis will support better formation and understanding of public policies that engage with the development and operation of nightlife.

In addition to the overall historical development of New York City nightlife, the literature review component of the proposed dissertation will examine the evolution of City planning mechanisms as they relate to and have interacted with the nightlife industry. Historically, there have been many points of tension between the city’s nightlife establishments and the community; these continue to this day.[3] To better understand these tensions, and to better appreciate the ways in which planning and public policy can address them, Jesse Keyes will analyze the ways in which regulatory levers of power have developed to counter facets of nightlife establishments that create disruptions to the communities in which they are situated.

Given the planning and public policy context, developed in the literature review, of the relationship between the nightlife industry and New York City planning and public policy,  I posit three key research questions by which to study sector-wide economic aspects of the nightlife industry, while focusing in on the employee base:

How big is the industry? To date, this question has not been carefully researched. With estimates ranging from $5-$20 billion per year, it deserves closer attention.

How are nightlife venues funded? More particularly, what is the source capital for their development, and what is the nature and scope of their ongoing income streams? Understanding why and how money flows into nightlife can better illuminate the economic influences the industry has on its labor force.

How do nightlife employees spend and invest their incomes and leverage the skills they learn? An occupational approach to understanding an industry examines the skills and capabilities embedded in labor. This thesis will look to understand how human capital is developed through employment with nightlife venues.

Jesse Keyes said, A series of places where creative businesses are generated, where capital flows into “Art Worlds,” infusing artists and would-be artists with human and financial capital and market legitimacy.

[1] Ann Markusen and David King, “The Artistic Dividend: The Arts’ Hidden Contributions to Regional Development,” Project on Regional and Industrial Development (Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2003).

[2] Elizabeth Currid, The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art and Music Drive New York City (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007), 6.

[3] Kristen Demaline, “The Quality of Life in Community District 3: Nightlife Impacts,” prepared for Manhattan Community Board 3 (May, 2011).

Resources: https://jessekeyes.home.blog/2020/08/21/the-new-york-city-nightlife-industry-as-an-economic-and-cultural-foundation-for-labor-development-by-jesse-keyes/