Market Rate Condos Could Replace Harlem Towers Proposal

Developers have withdrawn a proposal that would have built two mixed-use towers in Harlem, reports Nick Garber in Patch, in part due to opposition from community members and Harlem Councilmember Kristin Richardson Jordan. The proposal was withdrawn “hours before it was set to be voted on by a City Council committee,” Garber writes. “Besides affordability, opponents also expressed concerns over the buildings' height, and the potential for added traffic and crowding at a nearby subway station.”

While the initial proposal would have contained hundreds of affordable housing units—units that Richardson Jordan said would not be “actually affordable to the community”—, Garber writes that “the block will eventually be transformed regardless — now, likely with a fully market-rate project that will still displace the block's current tenants, including the National Action Network.” According to an article in The Gothamist by Gwynne Hogan, “the developer made several rounds of last-minute concessions,” eventually increasing the subsidized units to 50 percent.

“Having failed to get the zoning changes needed for One45, developers Bruce Teitelbaum and his partners will likely build a combination of market-rate condominiums, a self-storage facility and an unspecified community facility, according to a source familiar with the plans.” The source also noted that the new project would likely be built using non-union labor.