By Gus Saltonstall
Permits were sent to the city last week to construct an 18-story building at the site of the former home of Mermaid Inn’s Upper West Side location.
As first reported by Crain’s, a group linked to the luxury condo developer Nortco Development submitted permits with the city on September 11 to a construct a new 215-foot tall building at 200 West 88th Street, which plans to have 37 mixed-use units, retail space on the ground floor, and a parking garage on the second floor, according to the permit.
The new building plan is for 200 West 88th Street, which includes 568-574 Amsterdam Avenue as alternate addresses. The old UWS Mermaid Inn address, which closed in September of 2022, was located at 570 Amsterdam Avenue.
At the time of closure, Mermaid Inn owner-operators Danny Abrams and Cindy Smith reached an agreement with the building’s new owner to terminate the lease due to uncertainty around plans for the property’s future. A clue was given last summer, though, when demolition permits were filed with the city for 568, 570, 572, and 574 Amsterdam Avenue.
The document sent to the city last week was the first new-building permit filed for the Upper West Side site, and it is unclear if this property will span the entire set of addresses. Nortco declined to comment to Crain’s for more details about the project, and also did not immediately respond to West Side Rag.
The new Upper West Side Mermaid Inn location is expected to open soon at 335 Columbus Avenue, at the corner of West 76th Street. Abrams told the Rag in June that he anticipated the new outpost to open in the middle to end of August, but the doors remain unopened as of September 17.
We reached out to him this week to get an update on when locals can expect the popular restaurant to open.
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Good, that building and corner are an eye sore. Keep growing that housing supply!
What did you all think was going up there? A multiplex theatre.
Excellent. The faster, the better.
Can they get on with it already? That block looks terrible.
Just what the city doesn’t need, a new building containing fewer housing units than the one it replaces.
I really find this talking point overly simplistic. The city has a housing shortage at all levels and this is especially true for 3+ bedroom apartments (just look at the prices). It’s very easy to say these are “luxury” apartments for “out of state capital” but the reality is that this is the housing stock we need if we want to encourage families to stay in the city.
The question is not how many units, but residents.
People complain when new buildings increase the number of residents who overwhelm public services.
People complain when new buildings decrease the number of residents.
People complain.
Downvote.
A way to help the housing crisis is to build apartment buildings with only apartments. No gym, no play room, no pool, no theatre, no rooftop grills. I’m not alone to want a clean building with an apartment that has a bedroom, living room, bathroom and good closets, an elevator and washer & dryer. Simple. Then, they would be true affordable housing. Maybe $1000-$2000 instead of starting studios at $3000
On the UWS, for a $1,000, you’d get the nice closets. The larger expenses of the building are not the addition of a theater room but the lead times, permitting waits, insurance costs, financing costs, etc. – which wouldn’t be that different either way. Hence, they’d rather build something more luxurious – especially given the competition you face from people able and willing to pay $5-6,000 per month , who also demand the amenities.
What makes you think it will have fewer units? I count five floors of apartments in the photo above, you would think with 16 floors of apartments (18 stories – ground retail – parking garage) they would have more units than the existing structure.
The announcement said about 37 units, which will be an average of 2/floor.
Older buildings like the one at 200 Amsterdam generally contain more.
On B’way & 84 they tore down 3 smaller buildings, none higher than 6 floors, with over 60 units and are going up about 18 floors for 44 units and indoor pickleball.
This is not what the City needs.
Would WSR have any info on what happened to the residents?
How long apartments were kept vacant?
Thanks.
that building was empty for almost five years.
the units were mostly affordable/rent stabilized
NO! There were 2 left in 570 till about 3 months ago, then 1 till about month ago. I knew the mailman for the building.
I’m glad they are finally doing something – this has taken forever. Now there will be a big construction site for a few years, which also won’t be fun, but is a step in the right direction.
I assume the entrance for the parking will be on 88th and not Amsterdam? And I assume parking is just for owners and there will not be spots that others can rent?
Just what we need -more luxury apartments. NOT!
Who’s “we” – and how come *they* won’t listen to us?
It’s a private property. The owners will build what *they* believe is *needed* by the marketplace.
More apartments is precisely what we need.
In fact it *is* exactly what we need. New housing tends to be more expensive than old housing but freezing existing housing in place just means everyone is forced to live in run down apartments.
Does anyone know if there will be a wine cellar for my collection.
“it is unclear if this property will span the entire set of addresses” – The permits show the footprint of the new building is 10,740 sq. ft. They only way this is possible is if the building spans all 4 lots with a combined size of 10,900 sq. ft.
Which it will be. All 4 are being razed. There is space in the alley behind the buildings.
Again, it only states when Danny says Mermaid Inn would have opened, no mention of an eta yet. Please reach out to Mr Abraham’s and let’s get some factual answer. Mermaid Inn is set to open when? I did not hear the answer.
BOO, HISS
Stop all these horrible giant buildings that block the sky! No other city in this country allows the destruction of neighborhoods like this. Never mind that we don’t have the infrastructure to support it.
I lived on that block back in the late 80s. We referred to it as Crack Alley. Crack viles everywhere. It is one of the ugliest blocks on the UWS. So I don’t mind that they’re sprucing up a little.
For people opposed to the few luxury buildings that go up on the UWS per year, your small local businesses DO need luxury apartment buildings. Yes. They do. If you want small family-owned or independently owned business to survive in this day and age, we need all income levels here. We need wealthy people with discretionary income as well as moderate and low incomes. You know the high commercial rents we have, right? Then you should realize we need more people to shop in stores and those with discretionary income. The UWS has a ton of 5-story buildings and plenty of room to fit in several new luxury buildings per year to help your small businesses stay alive.
Concerned Business Owner,
Our family prioritizes shopping locally and really sad to see how many stores have closed over the years.
It is unbelievable that the City helped the restaurant sector, giving free street shed space – but the City has done nothing for retail and local businesses which are especially suffering from high rent, E-commerce and shoplifting.
It appears that the City is also now giving advantage to E-commerce (but not local businesses.) The City is implementing E-commerce hubs and expanding cargo bike delivery which is aimed at package delivery to residents.
For those of you asking about number of units before and after, the 4 existing buildings currently contain 57 apartment units (source NYC ZOLA), and the new building will have 37, so it’s a net loss of 20 units to the neighborhood. The loss of housing units and de-densification is consistent with almost every new tower on the UES and UWS in the past decade, which typically involve acquiring a block or half block of perfectly functional tenements for redevelopment. So even though the buildings are taller the housing market shrinks with each new project.
ANOTHER luxury building??? How about the shrieking need for AFFORDABLE housing? ?
Walked past the new UWS Mermaid Inn location yesterday. Views inside the building indicate pretty much gutted and empty with no sign of recent activity. Unlikely to open this year, if ever.
Sad to see the ornate buildings of the turn of the century razed for the sterility of cheap architecture.
Great! Glad it’s not another homeless shelter.