This week: unique projects with sweeping views and a dispatch from England on sweeping news.
Multifamily Mazel Tov!
New York City-based Hidrock Realty is constructing a 30-unit condo building targeted specifically to Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn's Midwood neighborhood. Innocuously dubbed the East 19th Street condos, units will range from 1,200 square feet to 1,700 square feet and will accommodate the traditionally large Orthodox families. Other Hebrew-friendly features include double-drawer ovens for the separation of meat and dairy during cooking. An elevator will automatically stop on every floor to minimize the interaction with electricity on the Sabbath, and residents will be able to work out in Judaist gyms that are segregated by sex. Hidrock COO Eddie Hidary says construction should be completed within 24 months.
High Maintenance
If adhering to endless rules and regulations troubles your property managers, just be glad they're not in the multifamily industry in the United Kingdom. In West Somerset, a landlord was informed by his town council that he cannot sweep the sidewalks along his property because he lacks appropriate training. Richard Ferris was allegedly "dressed down" at a recycling depot for attempting to put a small bag of cigarette ashes and swept-up rubbish into a bin for non-recyclable waste. "We recommend sweeping is undertaken by the council, as it has fully trained contractors with the appropriate protective equipment necessary to ensure health and safety," the West Somerset council told the BBC.
Presidential Pardon
Preservationists in Cincinnati are mobilizing to protect "The Quarry," a Shingle-style, gabled, and towered mansion built in 1886 as a wedding present for former U.S. President William Taft. Recently offered for sale by its private owner, the building and two adjacent lots are zoned for multifamily use but are not protected by any historical designation. Buckeye State history buffs are worried the site will be razed for condominiums. "We would hate to lose this house," Margo Warminski, preservation director of the Cincinnati Preservation Society, tells the Cincinnati Enquirer. "It's important to remember that it does not have any protection." The property features sweeping views of the Ohio River and is currently listed at $700,000.
ER Development
Missouri state regulators are reviewing a plan that will consolidate two St. Louis regional hospitals, leaving Kenneth Hall Regional Hospital in East St. Louis with plenty of upper-level space for--what else?--condos. The hospital will retain emergency room facilities and an acute metal health care ward on lower floors, leaving the fourth floor available for units with magnificent views of the Gateway City. Also under consideration is whether or not to turn the remaining square footage into assisted living residences or office space.
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