Truck Depot On Harlem's One45 Site Almost Ready, Developer Says

HARLEM, NY — A large truck depot will open within days on the site of the defeated One45 development in Harlem, the developer said Monday, laying blame for the deeply unpopular depot at the feet of the local lawmaker who helped bring down the 900-apartment rezoning.

Patch broke the news about the planned truck stop in September. Now, developer Bruce Teitelbaum says, concrete has been poured and signage has been put up, with the first trucks slated to roll in later this week or early next week.

For years, Teitelbaum and his partners had sought to transform the block by building a pair of towers containing housing, offices, and — at one point — a museum devoted to the Civil Rights Movement. In its final form, the proposal would have included 458 affordable apartments, including housing for senior citizens.

But Teitelbaum withdrew the project in May as it faced near-certain rejection from the City Council, due to opposition from local member Kristin Richardson Jordan. Since it was withdrawn instead of voted down, a new rezoning could have been proposed for the site — but Teitelbaum suggested that Richardson Jordan was not receptive to more talks.

"After waiting for months and months since the project was stopped and hearing nothing from the [Council member] about how we could move forward, we now have no choice but to pivot and pursue a different course for the vacant site," Teitelbaum said in a statement. "It is not what we planned on doing but it is now the only viable alternative we have."

The depot will open on the site of a former gas station that takes up a middle portion of the L-shaped plot of land, which spans nearly all of West 145th Street between Lenox Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard.

It could house as many as 200 vehicles depending on their size.

With truck stops known for their noise and filth, many Harlemites reacted with dismay to news of the depot, noting that the neighborhood already has above-average rates of childhood asthma and pollution.

Lonnie Portis, a coordinator for the Harlem environmental group WE ACT, condemned the project in a statement earlier this fall, saying neighborhoods like Harlem have been burdened by similar "pollution-generating facilities" like factories, bus depots and garbage dumps.

"This inequitable siting has turned these communities into environmental sacrifice zones, with the cumulative impacts of these multiple sources of pollution exponentially harming their residents, causing health impacts such as asthma, lung and heart disease, increased birth defects, and learning impairments," Portis said.

Teitelbaum, for his part, pointed to his rejected development, which he said would have been an environmental and economic boon to the neighborhood.

"Our unprecedented plan to build about 1,000 new homes, half of which would have been deeply affordable to local residents, was rejected by the Council Member," Teitelbaum said. "Thousands of high paying jobs in Harlem, NYC’s first Geo-thermal Green Energy District and a ton of economic development was lost."

Richardson Jordan, reached for comment, did not mention One45 or the truck depot, but pointed to four other planned affordable housing projects in various stages of development in Harlem.

"We have four exciting and ACTUALLY affordable housing projects for the community coming down the pike!" the Council member said.

Richardson Jordan opposed the project based largely on fears that it would contribute to Harlem's gentrification and indirectly displace Black and low-income neighbors. Other opponents included Central Harlem's Community Board 10, whose members voted unanimously against the rezoning.

Its defeat, celebrated by many in Harlem, was condemned by others who said One45 would have helped alleviate the city's desperate housing shortage. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, who had previously come out against the rezoning, lamented after its withdrawal that "the site will indefinitely remain as is—a vacant lot, an abandoned gas station, and a small amount of single story retail."

More is likely in store for the One45 site. Teitelbaum said he is in "latter-stage discussions" with a health resource facility that could open a clinic in one of the block's now-vacant storefronts, while another empty storefront could be donated to an unspecified community group.

In the long run, Teitelbaum said he may still move forward with previously reported plans to build market-rate condominiums and a self-storage center, presumably displacing the block's remaining tenants — including the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network headquarters.

"We haven’t made a final decision about what we’re doing with the rest of the site," he said.

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

Related coverage:

• Harlem's One45 Site To Host Big-Rig Truck Depot, Developer Says
• Harlem's One45 Project Defeated; Storage, Condos Likely Replacement
• Civil Rights Museum Replaced With Affordable Homes In New One45 Plan
• Harlem's One45 Project Thrown Into Confusion As Sharpton Wavers
• Harlem Board Rejects One45 Development, But Battle Continues