Harlem's One45 Project Thrown Into Confusion As Sharpton Wavers

HARLEM, NY — The proposed two-tower development that has rankled Harlem for the past year was thrown into confusion in recent days, as a rival developer claimed that its central tenant — the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network — was leaving the project.

Yet Sharpton's civil rights group partially refuted those claims on Monday, as one of its leaders told Patch they were still weighing their options — though there are signs that the development could move on without them.

The so-called One45 development entails two 363-foot-tall towers that would rise on the corner of 145th Street and Lenox Avenue, containing over 800 apartments and office space. Since its inception, the proposal has also centered on a museum devoted to the Civil Rights Movement, spearheaded by the National Action Network (NAN), which would also get a new headquarters.

Developer Bruce Teitelbaum is now weeks into the public review process that the project must pass through in order to be approved, since it requires rezoning the low-rise block to allow for taller construction. The rezoning has faced intense neighborhood opposition, but NAN has vocally backed it, saying it will allow the organization to remain in Harlem once its existing home is bulldozed as part of the project.

But last week, an article in the Commercial Observer included a startling claim: Don Peebles, a developer seeking to build a 1,600-foot-tall skyscraper on a state-owned site near Hell's Kitchen, said that Sharpton had agreed to move the civil rights museum over to his project, abandoning One45 altogether.

"We are fortunate enough to now have the rights to develop the museum," Peebles told the Observer. He doubled down in another interview days later, saying Sharpton had agreed to the move after seeing the pushback One45 received in Harlem.

Reached for comment on Monday, however, a senior NAN leader told Patch that no such deal existed, and that Sharpton's group was still in talks with One45's team about the museum's placement.

"Until there is a deal somewhere, there’s not a deal with anybody," said Michael Hardy, NAN's general counsel and one of its co-founders. "We’re in negotiations with One45 to hopefully bring the museum there."

Hardy acknowledged that NAN had "listened" to offers from Peebles's company about relocating the museum, but declined to say whether Peebles's claims about a deal had been false. The National Action Network, he said, was just "keeping [its] options open."

"If the city does not approve the One45 project, the museum does not die with that project," Hardy said.

Peebles, who is Black, has dubbed his proposed skyscraper "Affirmation Tower," saying it would be the world's tallest building to be constructed by mostly Black-owned companies and designed by a Black architect.

In a statement provided after this article was published, an Affirmation Tower spokesperson said: "Rev Sharpton has advised they are prepared to come into the project and we are completing the details."

But Affirmation Tower faces an enormous hurdle of its own. The state recently revoked its request for development proposals on the 11th Avenue site, putting Peebles's project in doubt.

Developers court other tenants

Meanwhile, there are signs that One45's developers may be moving on from Sharpton's group. Teitelbaum, a former staffer for ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani, referred comment on Monday to Tristan Nadal, a partner in the development, who said that "we are now in active discussions with others, including other cultural institutions," about replacing the museum in the project.

"It is not our practice to negotiate in the press or comment about what ifs or maybes," Nadal told Patch in a statement. "However, we can confirm that active negotiations between us and the [Museum of Civil Rights] continue."

However the museum drama shakes out, something is likely to be built on the 145th Street corner, which until recently housed a gas station, a mosque, a restaurant and other shops. Teitelbaum and his partners own the site, and could build a smaller project "as-of-right," or without any zoning changes — eliminating the need to get the city's approval.

"We are pressing ahead with our development on 145th Street because whether rezoned or as-of-right, we will build there, and our plans will be finalized and announced very shortly," Nadal told Patch.

Opposition to One45 has revolved around fears of gentrification and displacement of Harlem's Black residents, as well as concern over the affordability of its homes. Last month, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine recommended that the city disapprove it unless the number of affordable apartments — roughly 220 under the current plan — was doubled.

Other key opponents include City Councilmember Kristin Richardson Jordan, who has come out even more forcefully against One45, vowing to "crusade to shut this down."

Supporters, on the other hand, say that One45 would be an economic boon to the neighborhood, creating much-needed housing, retail space that would revitalize the 145th Street corridor, and a cultural amenity in the form of the Museum of Civil Rights.

Teitelbaum has also touted One45's environmental benefits. Included in the proposal is a geothermal energy system that would be built beneath the towers, powering nearby blocks including the Esplanade Gardens development, and forming what Teitelbaum calls the "first residential, district-wide green energy plan in the country."

Besides the developers, supporters of One45 include the construction workers' union Laborers' Local 79, which has begun a major campaign to urge local officials to support the rezoning.

One45 is now under review by the City Planning Commission, which has until late April to vote on the rezoning. If most of its 13 members vote to approve it, One45 will advance to the City Council, which would likely hold a final vote over the summer.

Related coverage:

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