The Olnick Organization last month made a presentation to tenants of Lenox Terrace, to add six new residential towers to the 1,700-unit apartment complex in Harlem, according to an article in today's edition of The Wall Street Journal by Wesley Lowery.
The existing six-building complex was built by the Olnick Organization in1958 on three square blocks between Fifth and Lenox Avenues and 132nd and 135th streets. The red-brick existing buildings are 16-stories high but the article said that tenants at the recent meeting "say they have been told each [new glass-clad tower will be between 26 and 28 stories."
"Olnick first developed the plan in 2003, but it languished amid a slow economy and tenant opposition," the article said, adding that the developer indicated that if it was "unable to secure rezoning," it "could move forward with an alternate expansion plan, which would contrast several midrise buildings ranging in size from eight floors to 15 floors" and that plan "described as 'blocky' in the presentation given to tenants, wouldn't retain the current sight lines and offers fewer amenities than the broader plan."
"'We are overwhelmingly and vehemently opposed to the notion of doubling the population in this three-square-block area,' says Delsenia Glover, president of the Lenox Terrace Association of Concerned tenants," the article said.
A spokeswoman for City Council member Inez Dickens, a Democrat who represents the area, said that "though talks are continuing, she still isn't on board, primarily because of the tenant's opposition. 'The councilwoman is concerned about the displacement of current tenants, as well as the ongoing change and gentrification of part of Harlem.'"
"Building six towers around the property would jeopardize the quality of life of the people who life here now," said Jeanette Spencer, a member of the tenants association," the article noted.
The building complex was designed by S. J. Kessler & Sons and is west of Riverton and south of Delano Village. The buildings in the complex have individual names such as Fontainebleau, Eden Roc and Americana and the project reportedly attracted "affluent and professionally accomplished tenants, including Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton," according to "New York 1960, Architecture and Urbanism Between the Second World War and the Bicentennial," by Robert A. M. Stern, Thomas Mellins and David Fishman.
The existing six-building complex was built by the Olnick Organization in1958 on three square blocks between Fifth and Lenox Avenues and 132nd and 135th streets. The red-brick existing buildings are 16-stories high but the article said that tenants at the recent meeting "say they have been told each [new glass-clad tower will be between 26 and 28 stories."
"Olnick first developed the plan in 2003, but it languished amid a slow economy and tenant opposition," the article said, adding that the developer indicated that if it was "unable to secure rezoning," it "could move forward with an alternate expansion plan, which would contrast several midrise buildings ranging in size from eight floors to 15 floors" and that plan "described as 'blocky' in the presentation given to tenants, wouldn't retain the current sight lines and offers fewer amenities than the broader plan."
"'We are overwhelmingly and vehemently opposed to the notion of doubling the population in this three-square-block area,' says Delsenia Glover, president of the Lenox Terrace Association of Concerned tenants," the article said.
A spokeswoman for City Council member Inez Dickens, a Democrat who represents the area, said that "though talks are continuing, she still isn't on board, primarily because of the tenant's opposition. 'The councilwoman is concerned about the displacement of current tenants, as well as the ongoing change and gentrification of part of Harlem.'"
"Building six towers around the property would jeopardize the quality of life of the people who life here now," said Jeanette Spencer, a member of the tenants association," the article noted.
The building complex was designed by S. J. Kessler & Sons and is west of Riverton and south of Delano Village. The buildings in the complex have individual names such as Fontainebleau, Eden Roc and Americana and the project reportedly attracted "affluent and professionally accomplished tenants, including Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton," according to "New York 1960, Architecture and Urbanism Between the Second World War and the Bicentennial," by Robert A. M. Stern, Thomas Mellins and David Fishman.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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