City Halts 'Unprecedented' Upper West Side Condo Development

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Local elected officials on the Upper West Side are praising the city Department of Finance's decision to deny the application for a controversial 10-story condo development on West End Avenue.

The department ruled against creating a separate tax lot for the 10-story complex at 711 West End Avenue between West 94th and 95th streets, according to City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal. The owners of the property applied to build the condo complex atop an existing 7-story building containing 144 mostly rent-stabilized apartment units.

The new development would be suspended six feet above the existing building, constructed in 1952, by a concrete and steel platform stacked on top of 10 support columns. Just because the new structure would be built on stilts didn't mean it could classify as a new tax lot, a Department of Finance spokeswoman told Patch.

“The proposal requests that a new building be built on an air lot above an already existing co-op building and asks that they are given two distinct tax lots. The Department of Finance determined that approving the proposal was contingent on merging the developments onto the same lot," a spokeswoman for the Department of Finance told Patch.

State Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell called the project "unprecedented," and dangerous.

"This proposal would have set an unprecedented new low for development and tenant safety in New York City," O’Donnell said in a statement."From the start, the developers did not have tenants’ safety and well-being in mind."

In order to construct the condo development with a ground floor suspended 80 feet above street level developers SJP Properties and P2B Ventures would have had to cut a new elevator shaft and fire stairs into the existing building, which would have displaced tenants, Rosenthal said.

While the condo project gained Department of Buildings approval, the Department of Finance's decision not to create a separate lot could help tenants of 711 West End Avenue and other opponents defeat the project.

"The Department of Finance’s decision is an important step," Rosenthal said in a statement. "Tenants of residential buildings throughout New York City could find themselves in a similar situation, where developers will literally seek to build on top of them to build luxury housing. This kind of construction raises numerous serious public safety and development process concerns."

On the other hand, the project's developers see the Department of Finance's ruling as a mere setback. The development company, 305 W 95th St Developer LLC, will continue to negotiate with the Department of Finance on a tax lot solution that would allow the proposed condo complex to be built in accordance with city tax rules, it said in a statement sent to Patch.

Here's the full statement:

The Department of Finance’s (DoF) recent feedback is part of our ongoing discussions to determine a tax assessment and billing configuration for this project that works with DoF's property taxation system. We believe having two separate tax lots would be most consistent with the technical configuration of the permitted new building as well as the existing building. However, we remain in active discussions with DoF and are fully committed to a simple tax solution and to delivering this progressive development safely and professionally.

To be clear, the feedback from DoF does not imperil the construction of additional residences above 711 West End Avenue. However, it does challenge the development team’s ability to offer the same level of rent concessions to residents and enhancements to the existing building that are intended under a separate tax lot proposal. The project as planned will result in significant upgrades to the building and its residents’ apartments, while simultaneously introducing new condominium housing and preserving rent-stabilized housing on the Upper West Side.

We have assembled a world-class team committed to ensuring adherence to the highest standards for safety and quality at every stage of this process. We look forward to sharing the details of these plans with all residents.

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