Balton Commons. Image credit: CPC.

Multi-use building off 125^th Street will add affordable housing, retail, and community space. On June 13, 2018, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on an application submitted by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development for the designation of property located at 263-267 West 126^th Street in Harlem as an Urban Development Action Area. The development will build a seven-story building containing residential, community facility, and commercial space. The development, named Balton Commons, is led by the development team comprised of Harlem-based M/WBE affordable housing developers, Lemor Realty Corp. and Apex Building Company, Inc., and Silicon Harlem, a Harlem-based organization focused on technology and innovation leadership in education. (read more…)

P.C. Richard & Son Building. Image credit: DCP.

Proposed zoning protections expect to preserve the residential area between Union Square and Astor Place from rapid developments. On February 28, 2018, Manhattan Community Board 3 unanimously voted to include proposed zoning protections for the 3rd/4th Avenue corridors between East 8th and 14th Streets in Manhattan. The corridors are one of the areas between Union Square and Astor Place that will be impacted by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Tech Hub Plan. The protections are one of the conditions for approval of the 14th Street Tech Hub. The plan calls for the development of a 21-story tech hub at 124 East 14th Street, currently the P.C. Richard & Son building. (read more…)