Board Shoots Down Challenges To Tallest UWS Development: Reports

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The tallest development planned for the Upper West Side survived two challenges at the city Board of Standards and Appeals Tuesday, but it still doesn't have a green light, according to reports.

The BSA ruled in favor of Extell Development Tuesday for challenges to its proposed 775-foot-tall tower at 50 W. 66th Street regarding the height of the building's mechanical voids and its interpretation of the zoning codes, Crain's New York first reported. Despite the positive results, the board isn't fully endorsing the building as planned.

The board ordered its own review of the development's mechanical void spaces to determine whether the equipment installed in the space is necessary for the building's functioning, Crain's reported.

Extell Development described the BSA's decision to order further review on the West 66th Street tower as a politically motivated.

"The BSA resoundingly rejected our opponent's principal arguments regarding the legality of the building at 50 West 66th Street, which they have been pursuing for the last 12 months," a spokesperson for Extell Development said in a statement. "This is another frivolous attempt by politicians and opponents to undermine progress and push a political agenda against new developments which generate significant employment and substantial tax revenue."

The challenges against the building were led by preservation groups such as the City Club of New York and Landmark West! and supported by Upper West Side City Councilmember Helen Rosenthal. Opponents of the tower have claimed that large mechanical void spaces were placed in the middle of the tower to act as a set of stilts for apartment units so developers could fetch a higher price for the homes.

The City Club sued Extell in April to stop the development, but a state judge ruled that the challenges to the building must be conducted through the Board of Standards and Appeals. The actions taken by the BSA on Tuesday indicate that the board is not keen on revoking the permits awarded to Extell by the city Department of Buildings.

Extell's Upper West Side tower is being cited as an example of a development loophole in which developers are placing mechanical equipment in the middle of buildings to boost the height of apartments. These types of systems are no longer built underground because they could be compromised by severe weather such as flooding.

The City Planning Commission voted earlier this year to approve a regulation that would count mechanical spaces against a building's floor area when they are larger than 30 feet or if two mechanical spaces are located within 75 feet. It appears as though projects like 50 West 66th Street, which received city permits before the rule change, will not be affected.

Extell development first revealed plans for 50 W. 66th St., located between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West in 2017. Since plans were released, the tower has provoked backlash from local preservation groups and elected officials. The West 66th Street building will rise a planned 775-feet-tall.