NEW YORK | Lenox Terrace Towers Expansion | FT | 6 X 30 FLOORS

[chris08876]

Lenox Terrace Residents Fighting Against Proposed Commercial Rezoning

Resident of Lenox Terrace are fuming over the fact that their landlord left them in the dark after filing plans with the city to rezone their development.

The Olnick Organization, which owns Lenox Terrace, filed a pre-application with the Department of City Planning in November. They have not held any public meetings about their redevelopment plans in more than a year, tenants said.

"I was surprised and shocked because we were under the impression that they filed in May," said Delsenia Glover, the president of the tenants association.

News of the plan wasn’t a complete shock. Olnick had shared variations of its proposed development since 2008. But the group had never gone as far as filing paperwork with the city.

Now the tenants association is fighting against the clock to kill the rezoning plan before the ULURP process starts.

“For us the filing of it pressures us to step up our game, so to speak, in our opposition,” said Elaine Williams, 80, the treasurer of the tenants association. “If we had known in November, we would’ve stepped up our opposition strategy in December, not May.”

Williams said she is not surprised the landlord kept quiet about submitting plans to the city because the tenants association has publicly opposed the project for years.

In 2014, a survey showed that 78 percent of the tenants oppose the plan.

Olnick did not respond to questions about the timeline for its development plan.

Submitting a pre-application form is the first step of the ULURP process, which is required for any zoning changes.

According to the application, the group plans to change the zoning from a residential R7-2 to a commercial C6-2.

That would allow for six new buildings, the addition of 1,300 residential units and 287,062 square feet of retail space. Currently, Lenox Terrace has about 1,700 residential units and 96,564 square feet of commercial space, according to the application.

Some of the new buildings would be 30 stories tall. Currently, they are 17 stories high. A two-story commercial space full of large box stores would line Lenox and Fifth avenues.

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http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/2015...rcial-rezoning

[sbarn]

New York needs more of these projects. More density in areas well served by subway.

[chris08876]

Expanded Plans Adding 1,642 New Units To Lenox Terrace Revealed In Harlem

Today, we have the latest on an even larger project coming to Harlem, with the reveal for the first rendering of the massive expansion proposed for Lenox Terrace, which would eventually yield over 1,600 new apartments by the time of full build-out.

We previously reported on the project back in 2015, but evidently plans for expansion have increased substantially since then. The proposed number of new units has seen a large jump, from 1,300 to 1,642.

Besides the residential component, which will include somewhere between 411 and 493 affordable apartments, the current plan would also add another 40,000 square feet of retail, 15,000 square feet of community facility space, and approximately 200 parking spaces.

The parking spaces are definitely the least palatable part of the plan. Lenox Terrace resembles many NYCHA properties in this regard, where residents who are already subsidized at dramatically below-market rates receive free or extremely affordable parking, taxing the city’s infrastructure and preventing the “towers-in-the-park” style complexes from reaching their full potential.

Unfortunately, this seems to further confirm that Mayor DeBlasio’s “Vision Zero” is nowhere near realization, with city officials failing to realize that urban planning is the most crucial aspect behind reducing the number of pedestrian and automobile fatalities and injuries.

[...]

As for Lenox Terrace, the first phase is expected to be completed by 2022, with the full build-out anticipated for 2027. The Olnick Organization is behind the project, though there is currently no word on which architect will design the ultimate build-out, with exact plans appearing to be in-flux.

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NYY

[chris08876]

Proposal For Improvements To Harlem’s Lenox Terrace Begins Public Review

A proposal to significantly improve Harlem‘s massive Lenox Terrace housing complex has begun public review as part of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure process. Plans call for the addition of mixed-income housing, six acres of green space, and retail to the site located between Lenox Avenue and Fifth Avenue, and from 132nd to 135th Streets. Lenox Terrace comprises over six square blocks and houses more than 4,000 people across six buildings.

The proposal includes approximately 1,600 new units of mixed-income housing, with an estimated 400 affordable residences complying with the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing guidelines. In addition, there would be 160,000 square feet of retail, six acres of green space, and an amenities package for Lenox Terrace residents. If approved, the project would create more than 2,700 on-site construction jobs and over 300 permanent jobs.

Construction for the development is projected to begin in the fall of 2020, with an expected opening of phase one in 2023.

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NYY

[NYer34]

The No. 1 development priority for the city should be to utilize the sprawling parking lots and trash-filled grassy deadzones that take up most of the acreage in the city's housing projects.

This is the most buildable land in the city. It's nothing less than a crime that the DeBlasio administration hasn't already bid out projects to build on every last square inch of housing project parking lots and unused grass space.

[NYguy]

https://www.6sqft.com/lenox-terrace-...city-planning/

Lenox Terrace rezoning in Harlem gets green light from City Planning





FEBRUARY 4, 2020
BY DEVIN GANNON

A plan to bring a mixed-use development with five buildings and 1,600 apartments to Central Harlem got a much-needed approval on Monday. The City Planning Commission voted in favor of an application from the Olnick Organization to rezone part of the neighborhood, clearing the way for five 28-story luxury towers to be constructed at the existing Lenox Terrace complex.


Following rejections from both Manhattan Community Board 10 and Borough President Gale Brewer last year, the developer revised their application in January to change the requested rezoning from commercial zoning to residential upzoning with a commercial overlay.

As Patch reported, the rezoning change allows for more small businesses to open, rather than large retailers. Olnick also removed the six-story structure at 470 Lenox Avenue from the plan to preserve views of the main entryway to the development.

“The best way to keep Harlem affordable is to create more affordable housing, and at Lenox Terrace that is only feasible through the proposed rezoning,” Seth Schochet, president of the Olnick Organization, said in a press release on Monday.

The site, between Lenox and Fifth Avenue and West 132nd Street and West 135th Street, currently consists of six 16-story residential towers and five one-story commercial buildings. It first opened 60 years as part of a Robert Moses-led slum clearing project.

The project by Olnick, which has owned the complex since it opened in 1958, would expand the site by constructing five 28-story buildings that would house more than 1,600 housing units and 160,000 square feet. According to the developer, roughly 400 apartments would be designated affordable under the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program, with about 160 units available for those earning minimum wage. Olnick claims the project would be “the largest private affordable housing initiative in Harlem.”

The rezoning proposal will next move to the City Council with a public hearing scheduled this month.

[Busy Bee]

Good news. If anything it needs another 2 towers at 40+ floors thrown in.

[NYer34]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Good news. If anything it needs another 2 towers at 40+ floors thrown in.

Yes. Still way too much pointless greenspace in this housing project.

[dc_denizen]

Good , now do the lower east side and stuyvesant homes

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by NYer34

Yes. Still way too much pointless greenspace in this housing project.

This isn't really a housing project. The City itself is doing something similar with some of the city housing projects - bringing in private developers. But this is a private development.


https://lenoxapts.com/features

https://lenoxapts.com/residences

[NYguy]

https://www.politico.com/states/new-...-doomed-332929

Lenox Terrace rezoning appears doomed in advance of Council vote

by POLITICO's Janaki Chadha

The City Council is poised to vote down an expansion plan for the storied Lenox Terrace complex in Harlem on Wednesday — in the face of opposition from residents and to the dismay of project developers who were hoping for more time to reach a deal on the proposal.

The Olnick Organization, which owns the six-building complex, is seeking a rezoning to construct five new towers on the property with more than 1,000 new apartments, about a third of which would be affordable under the city’s mandatory inclusionary housing policy.

But the rezoning plan, which is nearing the end of the city's land use review process, is opposed by local Council Member Bill Perkins — whose “no“ vote is an effective death knell for the plan. He said at a Council hearing on Feb. 12 that he plans to vote down the project.

A spokesperson for Council Speaker Corey Johnson said in a Tuesday statement that Johnson “hopes the owners of this property go back to the drawing board and work to rebuild trust with their tenants and their community and address the very real concerns they have raised.”

Olnick attempted to reach an agreement with tenant leaders who have mobilized against the proposal, and expected the plan to come up for a zoning subcommittee vote in early March, allowing more time for negotiations. The subcommittee vote was instead scheduled for Wednesday — in advance of any deal between the developer and the resident association.

[Crawford]

Then they'll just build the towers as-of-right, with no affordable housing.

And later, watch the local politicians complain about lack of affordable housing.

[Busy Bee]

Insane

[chris08876]

Can't wait for the next city election. Hopefully these clowns are replaced and we can have more pro-development officials. This is setting the wrong precedent with developments. 200 Amsterdam and the LES towers come to mind.