Crains New York - June 3, 2013 - (Page 3)

They get tough projects built SHoP was brought in to revive Barclays, now Domino. Secret to success is in name BY MATT CHABAN Advocates eye levy to save a park City’s first NID would create revenue stream for Hudson greenway is BY ANNIE KARNI loom On a recent evening, Gregg Pasquarelli and Vishaan Chakrabarti stood on the roof of Porter House, the sun setting over the meatpacking district condo their architecture firm built in 2003. Porter House began as a sixstory 1905 beige-brick warehouse, onto the side of which the architects sutured a six-story zinc-clad box of the same proportions: a giant game of Tetris come to life. SHoP Architects didn’t just design the building or the 22 multimillion-dollar apartments inside, one of which belongs to Mr. Pasquarelli.The firm invested some of its own money—both to control the design and to share in the FAMILY PORTRAIT: spoils of a project SHoP’s seven the partners knew principals include would be a success, identical twins and two husband-wife the first of many. “In architecture teams. Clockwise school, they teach from top left are John Mallie, Gregg you that ‘developer’ Pasquarelli, Coren is a dirty word,” Mr. Sharples, Vishaan Pasquarelli said. Chakrabarti, Chris “We’ve never seen it Sharples, Kimberly that way. They’re Holden and Bill Sharples. not the enemy. They’re our partners, and nothing would get built without them.” SHoP’s business savvy and slick salesmanship have helped make it one of the city’s most prolific firms, capable of building big,complex and IN THE BOROUGHS MANHATTAN eliza beth TriBeCa resident Nicole Vianna, a business analyst by training, winces at the thought that her New York City property taxes have tripled over the past six years. No wonder she’s up in arms about the prospect of yet another new expense. A proposal by a parks advocacy group would create the city’s firstever neighborhood improvement district, where residents and businesses—stretching from Chambers Street north to West 59th Street and from about 10th Avenue to the Hudson River—would pay a small assessment to fund the upkeep of the popular but badly deteriorated Hudson River Park. The idea is modeled on the 67 business improvement districts around the city where trash is picked up, festivals are staged and trees are planted, courtesy of private funds paid by commercial landlords and businesses in the area. The NID is the brainchild of donors’ group Friends of Hudson River Park, which hopes to create a $10 million-a-year funding stream See SHOP on Page 23 See HUDSON on Page 9 Postmates is the latest to join scrum, promising nearly anything in an hour BY ADRIANNE PASQUARELLI First there was Seamless, bringing meals from the deli to your door. Then came Booze Carriage, for alcohol, and SpotlessCity, for laundry. Late last year, eBay launched eBay Now, touting delivery of nearly anything to city residents. Last week: the Big Apple launch of Postmates, a San Francisco-based mobile courier service offering retail and restaurant delivery. More and more startups, both app-based and available through websites, are clamoring for New Yorkers’ attention, boasting quick delivery of must-have dresses, forgotten phone chargers, even cleaning products. Google also began testing same-day delivery service in California in March, and is expected to eventually move it east. ‘Choice is the most important thing for a consumer’ “New York is the city of deliveries,” said Postmates founder Bastian Lehmann, noting that his company can ferry almost any item to someone inside of an hour. “But choice is the most important thing for a con- sumer—there are no limitations on how you can use the service.” There are several variations on the get-it-now theme. While most companies partner only with certain well-known retailers, like Macy’s or Apple, others market their own inventory.Timing and delivery fees can also differentiate one player from the next. Postmates promises delivery within an hour or less from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m., for example, but users pay a fee of between $5 and $10 for the service. The eBay Now service has similar fees but more limited hours. Hobson, which started last year, offers to transport tourists’ shopping bags from in-store purchases to their hotel rooms. Fees can run as high as $14.50. Despite the prices, many firms report a growing response from consumers, and investors are eyeing the STATS AND THE CITY by Emily Laermer THE WHEEL WORLD: A “beta” version of the city’s controversial bike-share program rolled out May 27, nearly a year after its original launch date. 6,000 24,000+ BIKES RACKED in Manhattan and Brooklyn so far—60% of the eventual total 85,585 799 MILES TRAVELED in first four days of program, with 30K+ rides averaging more than 16 mins. each ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS sold as of last Friday, 42% more riders than Staten Island Railway’s daily count NYC CAR ACCIDENTS involving cyclists, January through April, down 12.3% from a year earlier and resulting in one death 14 NEGATIVE STORIES about the program in the New York Post as of last Friday 1 NUMBER of Citi Bikes reported stolen Sources: Citi Bike, NYPD, Department of Transportation buck ennis Want it now? Online delivery services proliferate in NY ADDICTED TO NUMBERS? GET A DAILY DOSE AT @STATSANDTHECITY See DELIVERY on Page 8 June 3, 2013 | Crain’s New York Business | 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - June 3, 2013

Crains New York - June 3, 2013
IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
BUSINESS PEOPLE
REAL ESTATE DEALS
OPINION
GREG DAVID
FOR THE RECORD
TOP ENTREPRENEURS
CLASSIFIEDS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE COFFEE
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - June 3, 2013