Google earth aerial showing massing of Savanna's Morningside Heights tower (CityRealty)
After receiving approvals last fall, Savanna Real Estate Fund has begun construction on their 33-floor, 178-unit residential tower in Morningside Heights. The tower will rise from a through-block property at 531 West 122nd Street formerly part of the Jewish Theological Seminary’s (JTS) campus. In 2016, the 130-year old institution sold the development site and 262,000 square feet of air rights for $96 million. JTS plans to use the sale proceeds to fund a $96 million multi-year modernization which will build a new performing arts space, a residence hall and a new library that will house the institution's rare collection of Judaic books, manuscripts, and scrolls.
Approved to stand nearly 400-feet tall, the tower will be the tallest in Manhattan north of 102nd Street, and will top out slightly higher than the nearby Riverside Church. An elevation drawing posted on the construction fence shows the building will be conservative in design with punch-out windows, a masonry façade with faint Art Deco flourishes, and a bulky inelegant massing likely hashed out to keep the building height to a minimum. While the design architect is unknown, SLCE is listed as the executive architects on building permits.
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Elevation posted at the construction site (CityRealty)
The building is rumored to be condos and will be the largest offering of such in a neighborhood dominated by institutional buildings and pre-war rentals and co-ops. There will be a below-grade swimming pool and sauna, kid’s playroom, communal kitchen, library, study room and a 75-car garage. Already perched 120-feet above the Hudson River, the bulk of apartments will offer incredible views of the city, with south-facing units lending onto views of Central Park and the Midtown skyline.
Looking east (CityRealty)
Mark Levine, Councilman of Manhattan’s Community District 7, started a petition last year asking Savanna to scale down the project, to include affordable apartments, and to guarantee that construction jobs will pay decent wages and will be accessible to northern Manhattan residents. The proposed size of the tower has alarmed residents in the neighborhood where buildings rarely rise above 20 stories. “Such a behemoth would cast massive shadows over large areas of a neighborhood where light, air, and green space are cherished,” the petition says. “A building of this scale would also severely burden local infrastructure, in a place where subways, buses, streets, libraries, and schools are already overcrowded. “
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