Mixed-use project would provide 314 affordable rental units and replace a former welfare intake center. On February 16, 2011, the City Planning Commission approved the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s proposal to allow L+M Development Partners and Artimus Construction to develop a 314-unit affordable housing project on a City-owned lot between the Harlem River Drive and Park Avenue’s elevated Metro-North railway in East Harlem. The 296,486 sq.ft. project, known as Harlem River Point, would replace a four-story building formerly occupied by a Human Resources Administration welfare intake center. The block is bounded by East 131st Street, Park Avenue, and Harlem River Drive.

L+M and Artimus would construct three connected buildings ranging in height from three to thirteen stories. The project would provide 2,340 sq.ft. of commercial space, a 3,000 sq.ft. courtyard, and space for a 10,300 sq.ft. day care center. According to HPD, 60 apartments would be available to families earning up to 40 percent of the area median income, 184 units would be available to families earning up to 60 percent of the area median income, and 70 units would be set aside for families earning between 80 and 130 percent of the area median income. HPD requested permission to dispose of the City-owned site and to rezone the block from R7-2 to R8 with a C2-4 commercial overlay. (more…)

Partitioned Metropolitan Opera warehouse on West 129th Street in Manhattan. Photo: CityLand.

Stringer opposed, arguing that the proposal conflicted with the City’s broader efforts to rezone the West Harlem area. The City Council approved West 129th Street Realty LLC’s plan to rezone one block in West Harlem from R7-2 and M1-1 to R7A. The block is bounded by West 130th and West 129th Streets, and Convent and Amsterdam Avenues. The block’s eastern and western portions along Convent and Amsterdam Avenues are developed with four- and five-story apartment buildings and were previously zoned R7-2. The mid-block portion is developed with a one-story warehouse and a two-story parking garage and was zoned M1-1. The developer owns a 20,000 sq.ft. portion of the warehouse site, which is slated for redevelopment.

In 2005, the developer purchased the eastern two-thirds of the former storage warehouse used by the Metropolitan Opera at 497 West 129th Street, which it then partitioned. The site’s M1-1 zoning prohibited residential uses, and the developer requested the rezoning to facilitate the development of two residential buildings, one eight stories and the second nine. The two buildings will be connected by an interior courtyard, with the eight-story building fronting West 129th Street, and the nine-story building fronting West 130th Street. The project will create approximately 90 rental units and 65 accessory parking spaces. The Metropolitan Opera will continue to use its portion of the warehouse for storage. (more…)

EDC expects to choose developer before Council vote. On August 27, 2008, the City Planning Commission approved a plan sponsored by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the NYC Economic Development Corporation to redevelop a six-acre site in East Harlem. The plan seeks to create 1.7 million sq.ft. of mixed use development on 5.5 acres, roughly bounded by East 125th and East 127th Streets between Second and Third Avenues. 3 CityLand 59 (Nov. 15, 2006).

At the Planning Commission’s July 23 public hearing, the District Manager of Community Board 11 and Anthony Borelli, Director of Land Use for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, expressed opposition based on EDC’s election to begin the ULURP process without first selecting a developer. 5 CityLand 105 (Aug. 15, 2008). They asserted that EDC’s decision to select a developer after the Community Board and the Borough President’s respective deadlines for comment expired will have stripped them of their opportunity to comment on the plan before it reached the Planning Commission. Borelli suggested that EDC be named Lead Agency instead of HPD. The change would trigger section 384(b)(4) of the City Charter, and would require the Manhattan Borough Board to approve the disposition of City-owned property to EDC; in effect, the community would have a chance to review the plan after EDC selected a developer. (more…)

Community and Stringer criticize EDC for initiating land use process before selecting developer. On July 23, 2008, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on a plan to redevelop a six-acre site in East Harlem roughly bounded by East 125th and East 127th Streets between Second and Third Avenues. The plan before the Commission resulted from a controversial RFP process shepherded by the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

EDC first released an RFP for the site in 1999, awarding Urban Strategic Partners LLC the right to develop its “Uptown New York” plan, a proposal that included 700,000 sq. ft. of retail and commercial space along with four towers containing 1.5 million sq.ft. of residential space. The community strongly opposed the proposal for its lack of affordable housing and its failure to adequately consider the local culture. Community Board 11, Borough President Scott Stringer, and Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito formed a task force to oppose the plan and to propose a new one that, in its view, would better fit the community’s needs. EDC subsequently withdrew the proposal and released a new RFP shaped by suggestions from the task force. The new RFP called for a 1.7 million sq. ft. development including up to 1,000 units of housing along with a national retail anchor, restaurants, cinemas, nightclubs, a hotel, and not-for-profit space. 3 CityLand 159 (Nov. 15, 2006). (more…)

EDC reissued request for development proposals after community opposed first plan. On October 18, 2006, the New York City Economic Development Corporation reissued a request for proposals for a six-acre lot in East Harlem bounded by East 125th and 127th Streets and Third and Second Avenues after the community opposed the original winning plan.

The six-acre proposed site currently contains an MTA bus storage facility, which the selected developer must move underground, as well as local businesses. The City owns 81 percent of the project site and the EDC is working on the acquisition of the remaining lots through purchases or condemnation. City Planning is currently working on its East 125th Street/River-to-River study, a planning effort aimed at generating a development framework for the entire span of 125th Street between the Harlem and Hudson Rivers. (more…)