UES 94th Street Rezoning Moves Forward In Rezoning Process

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY —A nearly 500-foot-tall mid-block Yorkville development officially kicked off the rezoning process.

The project, called 231 East 94th St. in submitted project documents, was certified at a City Planning hearing on Monday, initiating what could be a bruising land-use fight.

In order to build on the site, currently home to a pair of parking garages, an auto repair shop and a vacant five-story apartment building, the developer is seeking permission to rezone the block's current industrial zoning code to one that allows for dense residential and commercial use.

Monday's certification by the Department of City Planning kicks off the zoning review process, known as ULURP, which entails review from the community board and then a final vote by the city council. The ULURP process must be completed within seven months.

While this mid-block proposal is sure to conjure memories of the contentious fight surrounding the East 67th Street Blood Center, a representative for the developer told a member of the city's planning agency that in this part of Yorkville, such mid-block towers are not unprecedented, citing the 35-story Normandie Court and the Ruppert Brewery urban renewal area.

"We think that it's appropriate for the surrounding area given these other mid-block conditions nearby," the representative said.

However those two project face major differences. Normandie Court is a nearly full-block development which faces the very wide East 96th Street. And both Normandie Court and the Ruppert developments have ample green space — notably Ruppert Park — and are generally set back far from the surrounding narrow streets.

By contrast, the proposed 231 East 94th St. is on a much smaller lot and only contains a minimally required setback from the narrow side street and a small, mandated rear yard.

First submitted over a year ago, the project has gone through a few changes since first proposed.

While the building's height — 46 stories at about 500 feet total — remains the same, the number of units has been scaled back slightly to 452 total, including 113 affordable units.

The area for a community facility or commercial space on the ground floor and cellar has also been slightly pared down — from 24,700 to 23,500 square feet.

The rezoning area is about twice the size of the actual development site. That's because the developer, the Chapman Group, is looking to transfer the air-rights from roughly the western half of the rezoning to allow for greater bulk and height on the site.

That means that the remaining mid-block buildings would unlikely be developed, since their options would be greatly hindered by that transfer.

The tower would sit atop a four-story base, rising to six stories along with the upward slope of the block's western side. Its affordable apartments would be open to those making an average of 60 percent of the area median income — or $56,000 for one person — including nearly half listed at 40 percent AMI.

In total, 113 units would be classified as affordable, while 339 would be market rate.

Floor plans indicate that most units would be one bedroom apartments between 483 to 697 square feet, with a sprinkling of studio and two-bedroom units as well.

The largest units are a few two-bedroom units at over 1,200 square-feet located below the sixth floor, which would enjoy both northern and southern exposures.

Chapman bought the two East 94th Street garages for $37.5 million in 2016, while the apartment building that covers a sliver of the development site has been owned since 2016 by Norvin Partners, a real estate investment firm.

The next stage will be a review by Community Board 8 and an influential call by Council Member Julie Menin — both of who were vehemently against the Blood Center ruling.

If constructed, the tower, including the mechanical bulkhead, would reach a total of 524-feet-tall and would rank as one of the tallest towers in the Upper East Side.