Controversial UWS Development 200 Amsterdam Ave. Wins Appeal

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — One of the Upper West Side's most controversial planned developments won a major approval Tuesday.

The Board of Standards and Appeals voted in favor of the developers behind 200 Amsterdam Ave., a proposed 668-foot apartment tower that was once destined to be the neighborhood's tallest building. The board's approval upholds a city Department of Buildings decision to award developer SJP Properties' a building permit for its tower.

"We are pleased that the BSA has upheld the DOB’s decision to grant the building permit for 200 Amsterdam. Throughout an exhaustive DOB audit and subsequent BSA review, we have consistently demonstrated that 200 Amsterdam was meticulously designed in strict accordance to the NYC zoning code," the developers said in a statement. "The BSA’s decision today is further validation that this building fully conforms with all requirements."

Throughout the board's deliberations on 200 Amsterdam, developers noted that construction on the building's foundation began back in fall of 2017. Before the Board of Appeals decision, SJP Properties had to overcome a DOB a stop work order due to a zoning challenge from preservationists and an internal audit.

The Committee for Environmentally Sound Development has been fighting 200 Amsterdam since late 2017 when it filed a challenge against the development with the Department of Buildings. The group has accused developers of gerrymandering 200 Amsterdam's zoning lot to obtain out-of-scale building rights. The 200 Amsterdam lot is combined with parts of five other tax lots, which should violate a Zoning Resolution condition determining what makes an appropriate zoning lot, the group argues.

In May the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development and the Municipal Arts Society negotiated a settlement with SJP Properties requiring the developers to notify the groups 10 days before foundation work at 200 Amsterdam is completed. SJP Properties also agreed not to cite constructions costs incurred between the settlement and a decision by the Board of Standards and Appeals as evidence of the developer's stake in the project.

City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal has backed the group's challenges against the building. On Tuesday, Rosenthal, several other elected officials and the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development released a joint statement stating they are "disappointed but no deterred," by the board's decision.

"Gerrymandered zoning lots in general, and the proposal at 200 Amsterdam Avenue in particular, undermine the integrity of the land use process and open up new loopholes. Today’s decision is a setback, but it is not the final word," the officials said in the statement. "We will review the details of the decision and consider our next steps, including further legal action and potential policy reforms."

When 200 Amsterdam Ave. was first proposed by SJP Properties it was set to become the tallest building on the Upper West Side. Extell Development's recently proposed 15 W. 65th St. — which would rise 775-feet-tall — has since taken that title. Neighborhood groups and politicians are also fighting that development.

Photo by Google Maps street view