Ex-Gov. Spitzer's New UES Tower To Rise Across From Met Museum

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The iconic neighborhood skyline facing the Metropolitan Museum of Art has looked the same for decades, but that may soon change, if ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer gets his way.

The former New York chief executive, who is also the scion of a real estate dynasty, is plotting a new 19-story apartment building at 985 Fifth Ave., between East 79th and 80th streets.

That site is hardly empty: it's currently home to a 25-story rental building that Spitzer's family firm built in 1969. Spitzer himself lived there for years, including while he was governor, and reporters swarmed the building in 2008 after news broke of the prostitution scandal that spelled his downfall.

A company representative filed plans with the city for the new building on Wednesday, but demolition on the existing building likely won't begin until 2024 at earliest, Spitzer Enterprises manager Charles Morisi told Patch.

Besides being shorter than the current building, the new tower would also contain fewer apartments: just 14 or 15, compared to 47 in the existing building, Morisi said.

But they will likely be far pricier, since the new tower will contain condos instead of rentals. The Real Deal, which first reported on the project, said the company will target "the highest echelon of the market."

"It's Fifth Avenue between 79th and 80th, so that's what you would expect," Morisi said Thursday.

While the development does not require any zoning changes, the site is within the Metropolitan Museum Historic District, meaning the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission will need to sign off on the current building's demolition and the new building's design.

A rendering shared with Patch shows the building will be beige-colored, with its upper floors set back from the street. It will be designed by SCLE Architects, whose other projects include the supertall 432 Park Ave. and the upcoming tower on East 83rd Street and Second Avenue.

No tenants of the current building have needed to relocate yet, since the development is still years away, Morisi told Patch.

"We haven’t started emptying out the building or not renewed leases," he said.

Six of the building's current tenants are rent-stabilized, according to a document that Spitzer Enterprises submitted to the Department of Buildings.

The new building will stand 210 feet tall and span 106,000 square feet, the plans show. (While city records describe the new building as having 26 apartments, Morisi said several of those will be small, accessory studios, making the true number closer to 14 or 15.)

Given the net loss in apartments, it will be the latest Upper East Side development to leave the neighborhood with less housing than it began with, following similar luxury projects on Second Avenue and East 77th Street, and Third Avenue and East 75th Street.

Have an Upper East Side news tip? Contact reporter Nick Garber at nick.garber@patch.com.