Community protests St. John the Divine Developments
Ordinarily we let news stories pass without comment and speak for themselves but a little history is called for here. It was at the behest of the Morningside Heights Historic District Committee that the designation of the Close of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine was turned back at the City Council, which had far-reaching implications for the politicization of landmark designation over the past few years. The LPC was prepared to enter into a possibly improper agreement with the Church about some kind of oversight over development on the entire site, in exchange for de-calendering the rest of the site. Not sure what the end result was, but it would look like the real losers here were the people who care about the historic appearance of this acropolis.
From the Columbia Spectator
Development at St. John’s Breaks Ground
Committee Collects 1,300 Signatures From Residents to Oppose Apartment Complex
BY: Anna Phillips
Posted: 2/9/07
At a ceremonial ground breaking held today at the site of the future Avalon Morningside Park development, developers, elected officials, and congregation members of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine gathered to announce the beginning of construction.
The event, however, was something of a false start, as construction on the housing development will likely not begin until mid-March, according to Avalon Bay Companies Development Director for the project, Rachel Lobe.
Avalon Bay Companies, a New York real estate developer, purchased land from St. John the Divine and has been discussing plans to build an apartment building for over a year. Although the physical plans have changed little, the company has decided to set aside 20 percent of the housing units for affordable housing.
“It was a response to both the comments we heard from the local community and the elected officials,” Lobe said.
The project plans have drawn criticism from community preservationists and cathedral members, since much of St. John the Divine’s 11.3 acre property is land marked for historic preservation. Despite several attempts by the Morningside Heights Historic District Committee to repeal the Landmark Preservation Commission’s decision, the land Avalon Bay Companies now owns was excluded from landmark status.
Carolyn Kent, chair of Community Board 9’s Parks and Landmarks Committee, and other members of the Morningside Heights Historic District Committee gathered 1,300 signatures from local residents on a petition opposing the development.
“We will continue to work against the construction of such an inappropriate building. It’s inappropriate both in its purpose, which is profit taking luxury housing, and in its architectural design, which will dwarf the scale and finesse and Gothic design of the cathedral’s ancillary buildings,” Kent said.
Scheduled to be completed in January, 2009, the Avalon Morningside Park development will be 20 stories high with 299 apartments and will cost roughly $126 million to build. According to Lobe, early construction will mostly involve rock removal to clear space for the foundation.
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© Copyright 2007 Columbia Daily Spectator
PLUS
From GlobeSt.com
296-Unit Apartment To Rise on West Side
By Katie Hinderer
NEW YORK CITY-AvalonBay Communities Inc. will break ground today on a $126-million, 296-unit apartment complex on the city’s upper West Side. Avalon Morningside Park, as the project is dubbed, will be the company’s fourth development project in Manhattan.
Located on 110th Street, on the southeast corner of the three block parcel owned by the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the building will rise 20 stories in height and total 243,000 sf of rentable space, Fred Harris, SVP of development for AvalonBay tells GlobeSt.com. The company signed a 99-year ground lease in September 2006 with the cathedral to develop on the site.
According to Harris, when the Cathedral when up for landmark status a couple years ago, two sites were deliberately left out of consideration with the hopes that they could one day be developed. One of those sites will become this apartment complex, Harris says.
The plot of land is actually an infill site, which housed dirt removed when building portions of St. John the Divine and hid the unsightly elevated train that used to run through that part of town. “It is still sort of a blank wall,” Harris says, adding that the new building will lighten the corner significantly and improve the area.
Construction will begin in a couple weeks after some remaining pre-construction work is finished, Harris says. The property is expected to see its first residents in the summer of 2008 and be complete by January 2009.
There will be one-, two- and three-bedroom units, ranging in size from 500 sf to 13,050 sf, Harris says. Of the 296 units, 20% of them will be affordable. The property will also include a public plaza, parking, bike storage, lounge and community room.
The area around St. John the Divine is mostly residential. But Harris says there have been very few new units brought to the market in the last couple years.