Much Of East Harlem Block To Be Demolished For Apartment Tower

EAST HARLEM, NY — Four buildings that line an East Harlem block will soon be torn down to make way for a new apartment tower, according to city records and a local developer.

Developer Elie Fouerti filed plans with the city on Thursday to tear down the low-rise buildings at 2005-2011 Third Ave., and at 207 East 110th St., which cover half of the east side of Third Avenue between East 110th and 111th streets.

The doomed structures include a pair of three-story brick buildings, a two-story industrial building once home to a marble company, and a corner grocery store, Fresh & Fair Supermarket.

In their place, Fouerti told Patch that he plans to build an 18-story apartment tower, with commercial space on the ground floor and a 10,000-square-foot community space on the second floor. Demolition on the existing buildings will start in "a month or two max," Fouerti said by text message on Wednesday.

There are no remaining residential tenants in the buildings, and Fresh & Fair Supermarket will be the only business forced to relocate, according to Fouerti.

Fouerti bought the four properties for about $10.7 million combined in November, city records show. Fouerti also owns the mechanic and auto body shop that occupy the block's north side, but he told Patch that the building will be "untouched" by the upcoming construction.

Notably, the block sits within a Qualified Opportunity Zone: the sites created by the Trump administration in its 2017 tax bill in which developers receive tax breaks for building in low-income areas. Fouerti confirmed that the project will take advantage of the tax breaks — which some have criticized as a giveaway to wealthy investors rather than a tool of uplift.

The two buildings at 2007-2011 Third Ave. were both built in 1900, while 2005 Third Ave. dates to 1950 and 207 East 110th St. to 1920, according to city records.