Lenox Hill Plans UES Apartment Complex To Fund Expansion: Report

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Lenox Hill Hospital is planning to convert a portion of its Upper East Side campus into a market-rate condominium complex in order to fund an expansion of the hospital, according to reports.

Representatives from the hospital presented a plan to construct a 200-unit residential facility and expand Lenox Hill Hospital to 1.3 million square feet — compared to its current 780,000 square feet — during a packed Community Board 8 land use committee meeting, Crain's New York Business first reported.

Despite Lenox Hill's plans to apply for an upzoning for increased density, there are no plans to include below-market housing in the residential component, Crain's reported. A real estate lawyer hired by Northwell Health, Lenox Hills' parent company, noted that "affordable housing might be part of the conversation as we go forward."

The city's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program requires the City Council and City Planning Commission to implement affordable housing at sites where "new housing capacity is approved through land use actions," according to the Department of City Planning. Northwell Health has not submitted its expansion plan for the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, but it will almost certainly include an application for upzoning that would be considered a "land use action," according to the Crain's report.

Northwell Health officials explained that the residential complex will be fully market-rate in order to best fund expansions to the hospital that include a large expansion to its emergency room, private patient rooms and expanded operating rooms, Crain's reported. Community Board 8 members were put off by the lack of affordable units.

Hospital officials said the expansion may take eight to 10 years to complete because it will need to be done in phases, according to the report. The hospital will remain operational during the construction period.

Read the full Crain's New York article here.