City Approves Massive Harlem Development Despite Local Objections

HARLEM, NY — A controversial plan to nearly double the size of Harlem's Lenox Terrace apartment complex received its first approval in the public review process Monday when it was approved by the City Planning Commission.

The Olnick Organization's proposal to rezone Lenox Terrace will allow developers to construct five 28-story residential towers on the complex's multi-block site bound by Lenox Avenue, Fifth Avenue, West 132nd Street and West 135th Street. The expansion will add about 1,600 apartments to the existing 1,700-apartment complex.

Rezoning the Lenox Terrace site would subject developers to the city's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing rules, which means of the 1,600 new units about 400-500 would be offered at below-market rents. Developers said about 160 units would be offered to tenants earning minimum wage.

"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 statement.

Despite Olnick's framing of the expansion as an affordable housing initiative, the proposal is facing opposition from tenant groups, Harlem community boards and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. Local Community Board 10 and Brewer both ruled against the proposal before it was sent to the City Planning Commission during the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.

Community Board 10 voted in November to reject Olnick's requested upzoning as out of scale for Lenox Terrace, and said the board would not support any expansion of Lenox Terrace that asked for the developer's desired zoning changes. Members of community board 10 also voiced concerns that the project would threaten the African-American plurality of Harlem. For decades, Lenox Terrace has been home to a majority of African-American residents, but new market-rate units could bring a shift in demographics.

Brewer echoed the concerns, saying in a statement that: "This proposal promises to change the physical and socioeconomic character of Central Harlem while ignoring the concerns of stakeholders and urban planners in the community."

In response to the criticism, Olnick modified its rezoning plan a week before the City Planning Commission vote. Instead of asking for a "C6-2" commercial zoning designation for parts of Lenox Terrace, Olnick is now applying for an "R8" residential upzoning with a commercial overlay. The current zoning is an "R7" designation with a commercial overlay. The R8 zoning will allow for increased residential density.

Despite the modifications, the actual building plans for Lenox Terrace appear unchanged. Modified applications sent to the city Department of Planning reveal that Olnick still plans to build five 28-story residential towers throughout the Lenox Terrace site to add about 1,600 apartments to the existing 1,700-apartment complex.

The only real change in terms of what Olnick plans to construct is the removal of a six-story "podium" that was going to be built 470 Lenox Avenue. The narrow six-story structures are being built in front of the new towers, rising directly from the street line, in order to "provide increased light and air" near the new developments, according to plans filed with the city.

The New York City Council will be the next and final body to deliberate on Olnick's application as part of the ULURP process. Council members will have 50 days to vote on the application, which will begin in a land use subcommittee, move to the land use committee and then to the full board. Votes by the community board and borough president are considered advisory, and are not legally binding.