Permits Filed For 23-Story Tower On Long Vacant UWS Block

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — It appears that a new 23-story residential building is coming to a long-vacant Upper West Side block. Permits were filed at the end of March for a new 235-foot tower at 270 West 96th Street.

The total square building footage will be 153,496, with 8,961 square feet for community facility space.

The building will have 171 total apartments, which will include a set of affordable housing units.

Located between West End and Broadway, the address is part of a property lot that has long stood vacant despite its proximity to the 96th Street subway station.

Fetner Properties is listed as the owner of the application.

There is no demolition permit filed for the property at 270 West 96th Street, and there is no indication of when the new building project would start or expect to be finished.

There are not many other details within the new building permit, however, there is a 2019 proposal that went in front of the Land Use Committee from Fetner Properties for a 23-story residential building with 171 apartments and a community facility building which would span from 266 to 270 West 96th Street.

While the new building permit filed in March only lists 270 West 96th Street as an address, the 23-story residential building, the 171 apartments, and Fetner Properties getting named as the owner, are all identical to the 2019 proposal.

The 2019 proposal says the new 23-story building will include 80 micro-units, 91 traditional units, and 68 affordable housing units — meaning that 40 percent of the residence would be affordable housing.

The other noteworthy element of the 266-270 West 96th Street property lot is the abandoned MTA Substation 11, which used to be a station to convert high voltage electricity from the New York City grid and convert it into lower voltage to operate subway trains through the third rail.

Substations stopped getting used in New York City during the 1940s, and the building has been vacant since.