The trendy development transforming gritty Fourth Avenue is moving to even grittier Third Avenue.
Hotel Le Bleu developer Domenick Tonaccio has unveiled a plan to build a (big) little sister for his sleek, blue glass (and still-unopened) hotel. Tonaccio’s second glassy tower will rise at 399 Third Ave., on the corner of Sixth Street, replacing a one-story garage.
The developer — a partner in Shaya Boymelgreen’s NOVO Park Slope condo building on Fourth Avenue at Fifth Street — said that he expects to fill his newest project with medical offices.
“As more people move to this area they will need doctors and dentists and all those things you have in other residential neighborhoods,” said Tonaccio.
The balconied office building will dwarf its nearest neighbor, a low warehouse recognized by its massive red and white neon “Eagle Clothes” sign. More towers are expected to come to the area in the next several years as the city moves forward with a long-planned rezoning of the area that surrounds the Gowanus Canal.
The developer said that the aesthetic similarities between Hotel Le Bleu and the Karl Fischer-designed Third Avenue tower were intentional.
“It’s the style we’re looking for,” he said. “This area is becoming modern, trendy and new. The glass is part of that.”
The tower will rise three blocks south of the future home of Whole Foods, expected to be open in 2009. The gourmet grocer was originally slated to open next year, but an unexpectedly complex cleanup of the site’s soil caused delays.
