High Rise Plans Move Ahead After Ousting Popular UES Eatery

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A new 22-story apartment tower will soon rise on an Upper East Side block, city records show, making it the latest development to alter the neighborhood's skyline.

A developer filed plans Thursday for the new building at 1695 Second Ave., on the southeast corner of East 88th Street. The corner is currently home to a five-story brick building that was constructed in 1900.

The development has been long expected: the French restaurant Cafe d'Alsace, which had long occupied the ground floor at 1695 Second Ave., moved across the street last month after learning that its landlord, AIMCO, planned to knock down the building.

The existing building is now vacant, as the former residents of its eight apartments have moved out ahead of the redevelopment.

Standing 270 feet tall, the new building will contain 51 apartments with an average of about 1,800 square feet each. The ground floor will contain about 2,500 square feet of commercial space. It will be designed by Hill West, an architecture firm whose projects include apartment buildings around Manhattan and Brooklyn.

A demolition application was filed for the existing building in 2019. Months after that, plans were filed for 22-story building nearly identical to the new proposal, but the building ultimately remained standing for the ensuing two years.

AIMCO also owns the adjacent buildings at 1691 and 1693 Second Ave., and demolition plans have also been on file since 2019, but those lots appear to be omitted from the new development.

It was not clear exactly when the building will be torn down, or when work on the new building would begin.

Related coverage: Cafe D'Alsace Opens New UES Restaurant As Old Spot Faces Teardown