In September, 2006, The Cathedral Church of St. John The Divine entered into a 99-year lease with Avalon Bay Communities to build a 20-story, 296-unit residential rental building on the southeast corner of its property at Morningside Drive and Cathedral Parkway (West 110th Street).

The building, which is known as Avalon Morningside, was designed by R. M. Kliment & Francis Halsband Architects, which is best known in the city for the very attractive entrance to the Long Island Rail Road on West 34th Street, and Schuman Lichtenstein Claman & Efron in an essentially slab plan with a few slight angles along Cathedral Parkway. As a result of its site and shape, it obscures some of the views from the south of the cathedral, which is still unfinished but is also the largest religious edifice in the city.

The cathedral stipulated that the structure and views of the cathedral were to be protected and that the project first repair and complete the unfinished corner of Cathedral Parkway and Morningside Drive, thereby visually connected the site to Morningside Park, and, second, relate the new building to the Cathedral and the Close using a contemporary vocabulary and high quality materials. The apartment building has a two-story glass entrance opening onto Cathedral Parkway with landscaping by Rader + Crews and with round-the-clock lobby staff has made the corner more friendly for pedestrians.

The building has 59 apartments for individuals and families whose income does not exceed 50 percent of the area s median income, adjusted for family size, with preference for working individuals and families in the surrounding neighborhood and to make this 80/20 program possible, the Cathedral established a Housing Mission Fund that contributes $200,000 annually to support the building's affordable housing component.

The project created a new and enhanced play area just south of the Cathedral Building that is open the public when not in use by The Cathedral School, A.C.T., and other programs.

It also created a new garden to replace the Rose Garden and replaced a chain link and razor wire barrier on the east side of the property with an attractive fence and also rebuilt a collapsed retaining wall on 110th Street.

AvalonBay Communities, which has its headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, has three other developments in Manhattan including large projects on the Bowery and East Houston Street. It has an ownership interest in more than 165 apartment communities with about 48,000 apartments in 10 states and Washington, D.C.

When the project was announced in 2006, the Very Rev. Dr. James A. Kowalski, the Dean of the Cathedral, said that "This is a momentous day in the long history of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world, built to be a cathedral for all people," adding that "We initiated this effort over seven years ago as part of a strategy to preserve the buildings and gardens on the grounds as well as the religious, educational, cultural, social and civic programs that the Cathedral supports."

The New York City Housing Development Corporation financed the construction by issuing $100 million in tax-exempt bonds through its 80/20 program.

AvalonBay selected The Phipps Houses Group to oversee the development's affordable housing program.

According to Fred Harris, senior vice president of development for AvalonBay, two sites on the cathedral's grounds were not included when it was being considered for landmark designation a couple of years ago and this is one of those sites.

The building will have a garage, bicycle storage and a community room and apartments will range in size from about 500 to 1,350 square feet.

The Cathedral, whose cornerstone was laid in 1892, is very close to Columbia University and there is a subway station at Broadway and 110th Street and there is excellent bus service in the area as well as several attractive restaurants.

Many of the kitchens have breakfast bars and all have granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.

Apartments have walk-in closets, garbage disposal units, and there are some terraces. Zipcars are on the premises and the building has a children's playroom, a fitness center, bicycle storage, and residents' storage.

The building is also known as 1 Morningside Drive and 401 West 110th Street.

An article by Lydia DePillis in the December 16, 2008 edition of The New York Observer noted that the Cathedral had suffered a fire in 2002 and $41 million in insurance money financed renovations and that Avalon was supplementing that with $2.5 million in annual rent for its project. The article said that Carolyn Kent, the chair of the landmarks committee of Community Board 9 faulted the Cathedral for not undertaking a capital campaign and also noting that she was "struck with how cheap it looked," adding "it is injurious to the greatness of the cathedral."