(NEW YORK, NEW YORK)— Last Wednesday, October 16th, luxury condo developer Fetner pitched its proposed new development on the Upper West Side to Community Board 7’s Land Use Committee and Housing Committee, the West Side Rag reports. The site in question is on West 96thStreet between Broadway and West End, in a drab and disused stretch off the Henry Hudson Parkway 96thStreet exit.
Out of 171 new units, 80 of the units in the building will be “micro-units,” studio apartments between 290 and 340 square feet, and the rest will be one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. 68 total units in the development would be set aside for permanent affordable housing. While most of Fetner’s units are, at minimum, around $3,000per month or more, these units would be priced to be affordable for families making between 50, 70, and 130 percent of the area median income. 35—more than half—of the 68 affordable units will be micro studios, with 14 one-bedrooms and 19 two-bedrooms also set aside for affordable housing.
Amid community questions about the marketability of these microunits, CEO and president Hal Fetner emphasized the benefits for the elderly and expressed that he would enthusiastically seek to lease to seniors in the area. In response, Louisa Craddock, the other co-chair of the housing committee, raised the point that many seniors may need equipment like walkers and wheelchairs that necessitate more space, rather than less. Fetner assured her that the problem was well-researched, and the units were designed with the elderly’s needs in mind.
In a community that has vehementlyresistednew developments in the past, Fetner attorney Carol Rosenthal emphasized that the building will “look like an Upper West Side Building” and will preserve and incorporate the historic beaux arts façadeof the old MTA subway power house on the adjacent lot at 266 W. 96thStreet. Fetner also vows that it will reserve space for some of the businesses that currently lease on the lot, including a Salvation Army and offices of the NAACP. Fetner projects that the project will be completed by 2022.
