Let’s talk about the vacant storefront on 10th Ave & 29th Street

This is the first in a series of posts that are coming about the vacant lots and storefronts around our block. On the latter, our Chelsea neighborhood is (along with Hell’s Kitchen) sitting right around the city’s overall vacant storefront rate of about 11% (we’re at about 12%). So the good news is we’re average. The bad news is we’re average.

The vacant space on 29th Street near 10th Avenue that you see here is right next to an empty mini-jungle that OGs of this block association will recall we mused about turning into a community garden about 5 years ago now—and yes, another post is coming about that green vacant lot. This particular vacant storefront is owned by Maestro West Chelsea Spe LLC, which is the owner of the entire glassy residential building that 28th Streeters will know as 507 West Chelsea. In city parlance, the building is on Block 700, Lot 27 and valued for tax purposes at $107 million (which frankly is way too low, but we’ve already established that the city’s property appraisal system makes no sense). There are 372 residential units and exactly 1 commercial unit, with an address of 506 West 29th Street, in this building, which you’re looking at right here.

By all accounts of the many members of this organization who live in 507 West Chelsea, Maestro is doing an incredible job on 28th Street; if you walk into the 507 West Chelsea lobby on 28th, you kind of feel like you’re walking into a wellness spa replete with a full green wall right behind the lobby. But as much as we love a little grit around here, the equivalent space on 29th Street has a bit of a Fight Club feel, by which I mean kind of just like a dingy basement yet without Brad Pitt or even Edward Norton. And we really draw the line at no Edward Norton. I’ve been on the block for quite some time, and as far as I know, no tenant has ever been in this space.

So what can we do about this? We’ll reach out to Maestro and Newmark, the commercial broker for the space, to see what’s going on here, but the fact is they probably want a tenant even more than you or I want a tenant. If you’ve got any ideas, please let us know. In the meantime, please remember to get gelato at our new gelato place; get zebras at our new zebra place; and otherwise get what you need as close to you as possible.‍ Sometimes you launch a prayer into the universe and it is kind of answered; most times it is on you/us though. We’ll let you know if there are any updates.