Harlem's One45 Rezoning Advances To City Council, Setting Up Showdown

HARLEM, NY — The contested One45 rezoning in Harlem was approved by the City Planning Commission on Monday, sending the two-tower proposal to the City Council, where it will face a climactic vote in the coming weeks.

Members of the commission voted 8-2 in favor of the development Monday afternoon — the first binding vote that One45 has faced since it was unveiled a year ago. Had a majority of the panel voted against it, it would have doomed the project, which promises to build a pair of 363-foot towers on the corner of West 145th Street and Lenox Avenue, containing 866 apartments, office space, and — potentially — a museum devoted to the Civil Rights Movement.

Instead, One45 will advance to the Council, where it faces an uncertain fate as local member Kristin Richardson Jordan continues a crusade to defeat it.

In voting to support the rezoning during Monday's meeting, City Planning Commissioners mostly pointed to New York's desperate housing shortage. Commission Chair Dan Garodnick called One45 "an opportunity to create 900 homes in one shot."

"This is a complex building proposal, but I think it yields great potential," Planning Commission vice-chair Kenneth J. Knuckles said Monday, adding that he would support the project since the wide intersection of 145th and Lenox "is befitting of greater density."

But Knuckles also acknowledged the harsh opposition that One45 has faced in the neighborhood, largely centered on the affordability of its homes. Only about 220 of One45's residential units would be considered affordable under current plans, spurring Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and Harlem's Community Board 10 to recommend that the city reject the rezoning.

"We shouldn’t accept any crumbs, and to me, this is a crumb," said Leah Goodridge, one of the two City Planning commissioners who voted against the rezoning on Monday. "We’re not even talking about 50 percent affordable housing."

Now, under the city's public review process for rezonings, One45 will head to the City Council, whose 51 members have 50 days — or until mid-June — to hold a final vote.

Historically, the Council has often respected the wishes of the local member when considering land-use actions. If that policy holds, One45 would be certain to fail, as Richardson Jordan reiterated her opposition on Monday .

"I am disappointed that the City Planning Commission has voted for this project which will aid in the gentrification of Harlem," Richardson Jordan told Patch in a statement. "I urge the City Council to stand against gentrification, and to handle the housing crisis we are currently facing by supporting fully affordable options."

Last year, however, the Council approved the contentious New York Blood Center rezoning over the objections of Upper East Side City Councilmember Ben Kallos, suggesting that the "member deference" policy may be waning. Indeed, City & State reported in January that Richardson Jordan had "ruffled feathers" among her Council colleagues, in part by voting against Adrienne Adams for speaker — suggesting that One45 could ultimately pass without her support.

Richardson Jordan also shared a document laying out the requirements that any development must meet in order to earn her support, saying a majority of the housing units would need to be priced at 30 percent of the area median income in order to match Harlem's needs — a far cry from the current One45 plans.

Bruce Teitelbaum, One45's developer, told Patch after Monday's vote that his team was "grateful and thankful for this important decision."

"This reaffirms our belief in a project that will mean hundreds of affordable housing units, over a thousand jobs, NYC’s 1st Green Energy district, job training, youth empowerment initiative, MWBE opportunities and a massive investment in the future of Central Harlem," Teitelbaum said. "Who could reasonably oppose all of this, especially considering the alternative."

Meanwhile, a centerpiece of the One45 proposal remains shrouded in uncertainty. For months, the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network has been attached to the project as a future tenant, gaining new office space (replacing its existing headquarters, which will be bulldozed) and leading the construction of the civil rights museum, which would sit between the two towers.

But last month, claims began circulating that NAN had agreed to depart One45 in favor of a different skyscraper project in Midtown, and a senior NAN leader told Patch that the nonprofit had indeed "listened" to other offers. (One45's developers, for their part, said they, too, were "in active discussions" with other tenants who could replace the museum.)

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.

Related coverage:

• 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
• Harlem Board Grills One45 Developers Over Affordability, Impact
• Harlem's New Action Network HQ To Tower Over Neighborhood