Development That Inspired Sutton Place Rezoning Push Gains Partial Approval

SUTTON PLACE, NY — Developers have been given permission to begin preliminary construction on a proposed 700-feet tall tower that inspired Sutton Place residents to submit a rezoning proposal to the city to cap area building heights.

Gamma Real Estate has been issued a permit to install a construction fence, and to conduct excavation and foundation work for its site at 430 E. 58th St., a Department of Buildings spokesperson confirmed. Gamma plans to construct a 67-story, 700-feet tall apartment tower on the building site, located between First Avenue and Sutton Place, according to plans filed with the DOB.

The partial approval of the building plans does not permit Gamma from starting construction of the actual structure, a Department of Buildings spokesperson told Patch.

Nevertheless, it's a step toward final approval for Gamma.

"At this time, Gamma has filed for a partial building permit in order to begin construction on the building’s foundation, as is typical. We fully intend to meet all additional requirements by the Department of Buildings – including engaging and informing the community – as construction moves forward," Jonathan Kalikow, president of Gamma Real Estate, told Patch in a statement.

The development, also known as 3 Sutton Place, has drawn the ire of neighborhood residents who are pushing a rezoning plan to cap area building heights and effectively kill the development.

The Sutton Place rezoning plan, submitted to the department by the East River 50s Alliance, would cap building heights at 260 feet in Sutton Place, Lisa Mercurio of the East River 50s Alliance told Patch. Currently the neighborhood's R10 zoning, applied in the 1960s, does not limit building height at all. (For more New York City news delivered straight to your inbox sign up for Patch's free newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"We believe strongly that planners in 1961 never had buildings of 700, 800 or 900 feet in mind," Mercurio told Patch. "It would have been science fiction in the engineering of the times."

The East River 50s Alliance has been fighting against 3 Sutton Place ever since the building site was first bought up by developer Joseph Beninati's Bauhouse Group with the intention of creative a super-tall luxury apartment building. Along the road Beninati ran into money troubles and the site was won by Gamma Real Estate during a foreclosure auction.

The Sutton Place rezoning application has been submitted to the Department of City Planning, which will certify the application when all required materials are turned in. After the plan is certified it will go through the public review process. Department of City Planning staffers told Patch in April that the plan, as is, could face challenges during the public review process.

Photo courtesy of the East River 50s Alliance