2 Empty Harlem Lots To Become Affordable Co-Op Buildings

HARLEM, NY — Two long-vacant Harlem lots will be redeveloped into apartment buildings that will be sold as affordable co-ops, developers announced this week.

The two lots, at 207-209 West 140th St. and 304 West 150th St., have both sat vacant since at least 2009, according to Google Maps imagery. Developers filed initial plans in 2019 to construct buildings on both lots, but they have continued to sit vacant in the ensuing years.

Now, developers have lined up financing to build on both sites — known collectively as Northern Manhattan Equities III. The project is a public-private partnership between the nonprofit Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement, developers Exact Capital, the city's housing department and the state's Affordable Housing Corporation.

The 140th Street site, between Frederick Douglass and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. boulevards, will become home to a six-story building containing more than 21,000 square feet of residential space, developers say. Its 21 apartments will be one and two-bedrooms.

A few blocks uptown, the 150th Street site is between Bradhurst Avenue and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. Its 31 units will include studio, 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom apartments.

Once ready, the apartments will be sold as co-ops to households making 80 to 90 percent of the area median income.

The project will be funded in part by the city's open door program, which supports co-op and condominium projects affordable to moderate and middle-income households. Costing $32.56 million in total, the project's construction was also financed by Webster Bank.

"While Exact Capital develops affordable housing throughout the United States, as a company based in Manhattan, we take particular pride in creating an opportunity for New Yorkers with qualifying incomes to fulfill the American Dream of home ownership through new affordable co-op apartments in Harlem," Exact's managing partner, Craig Livingston, said in a statement.