Situated north of the Upper West Side and south of Harlem, Morningside Heights is Manhattan's academic acropolis and is home to prestigious institutions, namely Columbia University which is a major property owner in the neighborhood. While residential development continues to occur at a steady pace throughout the city, Morningside Heights has only seen a couple of major projects; Brodsky’s 2016-built Enclave at the Cathedral rentals at 400 West 113th Street and Vandewater, the 32-story condominium at 543 West 122nd Street being developed by Savanna and expected to launch sales later this year.
Another rental project is currently in the works inside buildings once occupied by St. Luke’s Hospital on Morningside Drive, which overlooks the neighborhood’s namesake Morningside Park and is roughly one block Columbia’s main campus. St. Luke’s was one of the first major institutions in the neighborhood and constructed several patient pavilion buildings between 1896 and 1928. They were originally designed by Ernest Flagg and have a French Renaissance Revival style.
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More recently, some of the buildings sat vacant while owned by what is now called Mount Sinai St. Luke’s until they eventually got the attention of Delshah Capital. In 2016, Delshah purchased five of the buildings from the hospital for $111.5 million and construction is now underway for a luxury rental conversion. In 2016, it was reported the “believes that features considered therapeutic for patients a century ago — access to light, air and views — are also essential for wooing future residents.”
The development includes five buildings, four pavilions and a former carriage house, on the Morningside Heights property between West 113th and West 114th Streets. The four pavilions will have up to nine floors and the 3,000-square-foot carriage house, which sits in the center, will be used as an amenity lounge surrounded by a landscaped garden. The rentals will reportedly use a 30 Morningside Drive address and the main entrance will be between the two pavilions overlooking Morningside Park, providing residents a lovely vista as they walk out of their building.
There will be 205 apartments in studio to four-bedroom layouts and some will be duplexes; prices are expected to range from $3,000 to $6,000 per month. Architecture firm CetraRuddy is handling the design for the property’s transformation which will be largely contextual. The interiors will be entirely new and the exterior facade will see little change, though some new windows and architectural features will be added. The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission had to approve the conversion as two of the four pavilions received landmark status in 2002.
Rental prices in Morningside Heights vary depending on the size of the unit and type of building, but the median rent for current listings stands at $2,075/month for studios, $3,986/month for 1 bedrooms, $6,261/month for 2 bedrooms and $3,578/month for 3 bedrooms. For sale, there are several co-op and condominium residences in a variety of layouts. At 400 Riverside Drive in a building known as Fowler Court, there is a south-facing, five-room co-op for $850,000 and at 504 Cathedral Parkway at The Amherst-Cortlandt, there is a 1 bed, 1 bath condo listed for $695,000. Get to know more about Morningside Heights here.
Google Earth aerial showing the St. Luke Hospital buildings in center (CItyRealty)
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