New 23-Story UWS Development Gets Community Board Support

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The Upper West Side's community board have its blessing to a new 23-story development on West 96th Street that will bring 68 below-market-rate apartments to the neighborhood.

Community Board 7 voted Tuesday to pass a resolution in support of a deal between the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development and developer Fetner Properties that will result in Fetner acquiring a city-owned site on West 96th Street for its planned development. The city-owned site, which has been vacant so long that a tree has started to grow in the middle of the property, was formerly used as an MTA substation.

In exchange for the city site, Fetner Properties will offer 40% of the units in its planned 266 W. 96th St. development at below-market rents. The development will have 171 total units with 68 offered at the reduced rates. Fetner's planned building will rise on the city-owned site and two adjacent sites owned by the developer.

A Fetner presentation on Tuesday revealed that the units will be offered for renters earning 50%, 70% and 130% of the Area Median Income. The board's resolution voices concerns that 130% AMI units —available to families earning as much as $130,000 — do little to help the city's affordable housing crisis and urges Fetner to consider offering the units at lower income bands.

Fetner officials said that the AMI levels for the future development are still being negotiated with the city. A representative of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development said that giving the site to Fetner will create more below-market units that simply redeveloping the city-owned site on its own.

Fetner's planned 23-story development conforms to as-of-right zoning regulations for the West 96th Street site. The only land use action that requires city approval is the transfer of land between the city and the developer.

Community Board 7's resolution in support of the project carried two conditions: That Fetner ensures local residents, especially seniors, are made aware of opportunities to rent the below-market units and that the developer form a "community construction coordination comittee" to keep locals updated on the development's progress.

In addition to apartments, the planned West 96th Street building will contain about 8,000 square feet of space dedicated for community use. Most of that space will be occupied by the Salvation Army, which previously operated on the site.

"We are pleased to work with the City to provide new, much-needed affordable housing in the Upper West Side community. Our team values good communication with our neighbors and we have appreciated the opportunity to get feedback and support from Community Board 7 as we continue advancing this project," Fetner Properties CEO Hal Fetner said in a statement,

Fetner added that the development firm is "committed to providing the highest standards of quality for affordable and market residential apartments across New York City."

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer will be the next to weigh in on Fetner's planned development in the city Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. After the borough president, the project will be voted on by the City Planning Commission and the City Council.