Plans to redevelop an old chocolate factory (Tootsie Rolls were made here!) at 325 West Broadway in Soho have been in the works for nearly seven years, but it wasn't until DDG took over the property in 2012 that things finally started moving along. With work well underway, the marketing team is prepping for sales, which should launch this fall. The development's teaser site, with images from a "yet-to-be-released comic book," is up and running, and we can add the project to our ever-growing list of absurdly named buildings. It will be called (ugh) XOCO 325. "Xoco" (pronounced sho/co) is the Catalan word for chocolate, and DDG chose it because they "wanted to relate the building's name to its history." It's unclear if the Catalan language has anything to do with the building at all, or if it has anything to do with the comic book on the website.
The comic book will share the building's name and feature the work of artist Shawn Martinbrough, but the marketing would not give us any other information about it. The illustrations feature a man and a woman leaping in front/from the top of it, and then dining in a restaurant across the street.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the building's design in March 2013, with glowing remarks. It feature an aluminum facade with vertical gardens, and it's meant to be reminiscent of Soho's cast iron buildings. There will be 21 condos, ranging in size from 1,055 to 4,837 square feet, and many will have balconies or private terraces.
The property stretches to Wooster Street, and DDG plans to develop another condo building there at a later date. The two buildings will be connected by a courtyard, which is the same thing the previous developer planned back in 2008. It's unclear when construction might begin on this building, but 325 West Broadway should wrap up construction this fall.
· All 325 West Broadway coverage [Curbed]
· XOCO 325 [official]
· A Guide to the Most Absurdly Named Buildings in NYC [Curbed]
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