building at 21 East 22nd Street

I personally would not consider the construction, in isolation, a deal-breaker in that neighborhood. There are three large buildings going up in my hood (heart of downtown bklyn) and they do such a good job of taking care of pedestrians, it's really not a safety issue. It's tough for drivers, extremely tough, but I assume you are not driving your car to the building regularly? Sure there are big trucks, cranes, that kind of thing. But garbage trucks are about the loudest going anyway. Construction can be a noise issue with the windows open.

The larger questions to me are whether your view or light is damaged in any way by this new building, and do you plan to stay put for at least 7 years, AND is this particular co-op a good investment for you? The construction by itself seems like a small matter to me. Change is the only thing that never changes, or however that aphorism goes.

Thanks Flutistic. You re right, I am concerned by the view. I am not sure how to know for sure whether the view of a specific unit will be obstructed. I guess Google map.

basic: a new construction and it's going to be built near the building you are interested in;
apartment views will be blocked.
If you look at the developer's website you can see which of the building's apartment lines at 21 East 22nd will be blocked.
That's for now --
"The future is unwritten." (Joe Strummer, "The Clash")

Hi Basic,
Having lived through construction of a much smaller neighboring building, I can tell you that the construction period will not be fun.

The demolition of the current building will be pretty uncomfortable - even if they are considerate. The noise and the dust/dirt will be a problem for a period of weeks or months, just from that phase. Of course, you'll have to keep you widows closed for the duration, and you won't be able to see through the dirt on them for a few years.

Likely one lane of traffic/parking will be blocked off. This block will go up as soon as demolition starts and will probably remain for quite some time even after the building is complete - which could be what, 16-20 months? In our case the traffic lane was blocked 1.5 years AFTER the building exterior was completed. You'll have many loud trucks/delivery vehicles, cranes. Those working on the building will use the remaining spots on the street as their own personal parking lot, and will double/triple park when none are available.

The actual construction of the building isn't that bad - a bit of noise while the cranes are lifting concrete, but that wasn't awful.

Once they start, it will take over your block for a few years - make no mistake. If you do buy, be ready!

if the bldg doesnt block views, it will increase the value of your apt.
once apts start moving at 1 mad and this bldg at 2x to 3x $psft what they trade at 21 e 22, your apt will perform better than it would have were there no new pricey bldgs on your block.

rel val increase

Just curious - is the 23 E 22nd project back on, and that's why the the sellers at 21 E 22nd are in such a rush to get out?

Twenty years ago I lived directly across the street from the construction of a 44 story building. Some days there was so much noise you couldn't talk on the phone or hear the TV. Dust came into the window sills even when the windows were closed. Cracks appeared on the wall of the stairwell. On the plus side, there were lots of hunky construction workers that were way better to watch than TV. Also, it was an old building with a roach problem. As soon as they started blasting, the roaches took off and never returned.

I love this Flatiron building. It has increased in value as the nabe has gone crazy with Madison Square Park and the building I hear is redoing its lobby. It seems well managed and the maintenance is not bad at all. Developments are happening all over ..at least its not the second avenue subway!!! Tres bien to a great property!

I have just had confirmed from a shareholder that a great new lobby is going in,,which will make this great building even more appealing. Hooray....location, great financials yes!