Manhattan Community Board 10 on Wednesday night voted 19-10 to advise rejecting a 968-unit apartment complex on West 145th Street and Lenox Avenue, the latest setback for a developer in a years-long battle for local support.
“This was a very difficult, very detailed project to review, and there were a lot of debates.” Karen Dixon, CB10 Land Use Committee chair told more than 100 attendees at the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building, and dozens more who tuned in virtually.
Dixon noted the board’s land-use committee had just voted 16-7 on Jan. 29 to approve the project dubbed One45 for Harlem — with several “conditions.”
Those conditions included: reducing the height of the buildings to 28 stories from 34; increasing the amount of community space; a commitment to have half of building employees be Harlem residents; outlining measurable goals for youth programs; and adopting a legally binding and enforceable community benefits agreement.
“The community benefits that were proposed by the development team did not really have much specificity. It lacked measurable goals. It didn’t give you targets,” said Dixon, who nevertheless voted to approve the proposal with the conditions.
Board secretary Brianna McClure, who voted against the One45 project, meanwhile asked, “What benefit do these community benefits — the MWBE and the youth centers — what justice does that do us if in the future, parents can’t afford to live here and, therefore, the children can’t live here?”
The proposed site of the One45 for Harlem building, Feb. 5, 2025. Credit: Jonathan Custodio/THE CITY
Delsenia Glover, second vice chair of the board, also voted against it, saying, “This is not an affordable housing plan, it’s a gentrification plan.”
The contentious rejection vote, which included five abstentions and one recusal, came after an initial vote that resulted in a 17-17 tie with one abstention.
One board member had urged their fellow members to vote in favor of the plan because a “no” vote would signal to other developers that they can’t build in Harlem, and that the board needed to pressure elected officials to fund more housing for working-class and middle-class New Yorkers.
“This is not the ideal project. It’s not the ideal project. But there needs to be housing. We need to do housing,” said Dixon in response to the discussion, adding that she appreciated the “energy” and “fire” from her fellow board members.
The community board vote was the first test for major work on the long-undeveloped site since 2022, when the area’s former City Council member vowed to block construction on as unaffordable to Harlem residents and forced the developer to withdraw an earlier proposal.
The massive project by One45 developer Bruce Teitelbaum has become a flashpoint for residents concerned about neighborhood change in the historically Black neighborhood, which added 18,000 white residents and lost more than 10,000 Black residents between 2010 and 2020, according to census data.
The developers have since pushed to get community backing by offering financial assistance to local institutions, adding more affordable units of housing — and following through on a threat to put a truck depot on the empty lot.
Battle Over Percentages
As proposed, the One45 development would comprise two 34-story towers with 968 apartments, of which 291 would be income-restricted. That means rent for those units would be set based on a percentage of the city’s area median income (AMI), which is $127,000 for a family of three. Approximately 10% of apartments would be rented to people at 40% AMI, with the same percentage set aside for units rent at 80% and 120% AMI. About half of all the apartments are one-bedroom units.
It would also include 940,000 square feet of ground-level room for a community center and a gathering space, local retail, and underground parking. The new plan nixes a civil rights museum that existed in the previous iteration and adds 102 more apartments, including 30 that will be income-restricted.
Teitelbaum, once an aide for former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, has faced an uphill battle to set that vision in motion. He is partnering with West Harlem Group Assistance, a community development corporation, and Concern Housing, a nonprofit organization that provides income-restricted and supportive housing.
The truck depot currently on the proposed One45 site along 145th Street in Harlem, Feb. 5, 2025. Credit: Jonathan Custodio/THE CITY
In 2022, Teitelbaum withdrew an earlier One45 proposal shortly before the City Council Land Use Committee was set to vote on it after former Councilmember Kristin Richardson Jordan advocated against the project as not affordable for Harlem residents.
At the time, Jordan said she would only back the development if at least 57% of apartments were offered for rent to households earning no more than 30% of the area median income — a condition Teitelbaum said made the development financially impossible.
Jordan’s premature exit from her 2023 reelection bid made way for new Councilmember Yusef Salaam, who last year said he supports housing development on the site and promised the community would have a voice in the process.
A spokesperson for his office did not respond to a request for comment from THE CITY on Wednesday. While representatives from his office were present, Salaam did not personally attend the meeting.
Teitelbaum did not attend the vote but has also worked to drive in more community support by lending money to leaders of the nearby Timbuktu Islamic Center so that they could buy their own building.
Representatives for Concern Housing were at the board meeting but declined to comment.
Before the vote, Dixon reminded board members that the proposal has many checkpoints waiting along the Uniform Land Use Review Process. A 30-day review from Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson’s office is the next step in that process.
“When our [Community Board] window is up, we’re done,” said Dixon, “But this negotiation is ongoing. It does not stop.”
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