Don't look now but the Chetrit Group is into Billyburg land, both westerly and easterly, in a big way.
1) Chetrit East. The firm that owns a stake in the Sears Tower in Chicago scooped up a significant part of the block between Metropolitan Avenue and Rodney Keep and Ainslie Streets. Chetrit East, whose working ID is 502 Metropolitan. This one could weigh in at 200,000 square feet; a building up to 12 stories tall could go there. Apparently, there's some interest in the site from "big-box users." Greasy spoon fans, however, can sleep easy. The owner of the Kellogg Diner refuses to sell.
2) Chetrit West. The developers have also picked up about 2/3 of the block across from 184 Kent Avenue that used to be the home a big cement plant. The huge parcel between Kent Avenue, Wythe Avenue and N. 3rd and N. 4th Streets is good for about 193,000 square feet of space as currently zoned. Curiously, the huge parcel has been sitting half-fenced off for most of the year in an ongoing state of deconstruction. It's become on of the most prized spots with that certain post-industrial something in the Burg for film and video shoots.
Anyone with renderings of these humongous new Billyburg projects is invited to hit us off at tips@curbed.com.
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