Harlem's One45 Project Defeated; Storage, Condos Likely Replacement

HARLEM, NY — The proposal to build two towers with hundreds of apartments on a Harlem block was withdrawn by developers late Monday, bringing an end to the battle that has roiled the neighborhood for more than a year.

A source with knowledge of the situation told Patch that the project, dubbed One45, was withdrawn late Monday — hours before it was set to be voted on by a City Council committee. That vote appeared likely to fail, largely due to the opposition it faced from Harlem Councilmember Kristin Richardson Jordan.

One45 would have entailed a pair of 363-foot-tall towers on the corner of West 145th Street and Lenox Avenue, adding housing, offices and retail space to a low-rise block currently home to a strip of stores, a gas station, and the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network headquarters.

An initial proposal to build a civil rights museum between the two towers was dropped this month when Sharpton, its main proponent, withdrew his support — allowing developers to replace it with affordable housing for senior citizens.

But the block will eventually be transformed regardless — now, likely with a fully market-rate project that will still displace the block's current tenants, including the National Action Network.

One45's latest plans called for a total of 915 apartments, including half that would have been affordable — meeting a demand made by Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, who said One45 needed to increase its percentage of below-market-rate housing to win his support.

But those additions, made in recent days, did not satisfy Richardson Jordan, who has opposed the project since its inception over fears that it would indirectly displace Harlem's Black residents and contribute to the neighborhood's gentrification.

"I have not been shifted by the new proposal. I don't feel that what they're calling affordable is actually affordable to the community," Richardson Jordan said Saturday in an "emergency meeting" convened by Community Board 10, whose members had also voted to oppose One45.

The number of low-income units had shifted significantly under the recent plans, including the addition of 112 apartments for people making 30 percent of the area median income — or about $28,020 for a single person. But Richardson Jordan said that at least 57 percent of the project's apartments needed to be listed at 30 percent AMI in order to win her support, saying One45 would otherwise be unaffordable to Harlem's low-income residents.

Now, however, the corner of 145th and Lenox will likely become home to a project with no affordable housing at all. Having failed to get the zoning changes needed for One45, developers Bruce Teitelbaum and his partners will likely build a combination of market-rate condominiums, a self-storage facility and an unspecified community facility, according to a source familiar with the plans.

Unlike One45, which had won support from several construction unions for its pledge to hire unionized workers to build it, the future project would likely be built with nonunion workers, according to the source.

An attorney for Teitelbaum declined to comment Tuesday. Richardson Jordan said in a statement that she hoped the site could become home to extremely-low-income housing through a city-funded construction program.

"Doing a big project in that space with great affordability is not impossible when we take greed out of the equation, and if the developers are willing to work with me and the community on something that matches our needs better, I look forward on working with them in the future," Richardson Jordan said.

But Teitelbaum and his partners have given no public indications that they are pursuing that option, nor that they will sell the L-shaped site, which spans most of West 145th Street between Lenox Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard.

It is also unclear what will happen to the National Action Network, whose existing "House of Justice" headquarters would likely be bulldozed to make way for any future construction on the block. Sharpton's organization has suggested it may move its civil rights museum to a different proposed development in Midtown, but that project remains far from any possible approval.

Besides the two towers, One45's developers had also pledged to spend $7 million on upgrades to the adjacent Col. Charles Young Playground, and construct a below-ground geothermal energy system that Teitelbaum called the "first residential, district-wide green energy plan in the country."

Besides elected officials, more than 600 Harlem residents signed letters opposing One45 in January, when it was still under consideration by Levine's office, according to Brianna McClure, a community organizer who led the effort. Aside from affordability, opponents also expressed concerns over the buildings' height, and the potential for added traffic and crowding at a nearby subway station.

Levine, the borough president, sounded uneasy about One45's rejection on Tuesday, noting that the latest proposal had "met the most important condition my office had laid out" by increasing the number of affordable units.

"Given that the developer has now pulled the rezoning application, the site will indefinitely remain as is—a vacant lot, an abandoned gas station, and a small amount of single story retail," Levine said in a statement shared with Patch.

"The corner of Lenox Ave. and 145th St. deserves much better than that. It is a bustling location, on top of a subway station, on a street that serves as the gateway to the Bronx. Most importantly, the desperate need for additional affordable housing in Harlem, and citywide, is getting ever more acute."

A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams, whose administration was facing its first major land-use battle in One45, did not take on the project directly, but said it underscored the need for more housing to be built.

"As the city’s housing shortage continues to exacerbate our affordability crisis, developers and communities must work together to create more housing, especially housing that all New Yorkers can afford," the City Hall spokesperson said. "We will continue working with all of our partners on a comprehensive effort to bring much-needed affordable housing to Harlem and every neighborhood in New York City."

Related coverage:

• Civil Rights Museum Replaced With Affordable Homes In New One45 Plan
• Harlem's One45 Rezoning Advances To City Council, Setting Up Showdown
• Harlem's One45 Project Thrown Into Confusion As Sharpton Wavers
• Harlem's One45 Project Rejected By BP Over Affordability Concerns
• Harlem Board Rejects One45 Development, But Battle Continues

Have a Harlem news tip? Contact reporter Nick Garber at nick.garber@patch.com.