Harlem Building To Be Transformed By 8-Story Addition, Plans Show

EAST HARLEM, NY — A short office building in East Harlem is set to be more than doubled in size and converted into an apartment tower, according to plans filed with the city.

The four-story brick building at 1751 Park Ave., on the corner of East 121st Street, was built in 2006. Its tenants include a Housing Works health center, the social services provider Bailey House and the food management company Red Rabbit.

But the building's owners appear to have new designs for the site, filing plans with the city this week to construct an eight-story addition atop the existing building — bringing it to 12 stories and 134 feet tall overall.

The new building will have 110 apartments spread across about 78,000 square feet, plus 4,000 square feet of manufacturing space and 12,800 square feet for an unspecified community facility, according to the plans.

This block was among those included in the 2017 East Harlem rezoning, which upzoned the site to allow for residential towers up to 275 feet tall.

Some portion of the apartments will be listed as affordable through the city's mandatory inclusionary housing program.

It was not clear from the plans whether the lower, existing floors will include any of the new apartments, or remain in their current use.

The owner of the building — which is also known as 101 East 121st St. — is identified in city records only as Yitzchok Joseph of "1163 Fulton Realty LLC."

The new structure will be designed by ND Architecture & Design, a Brooklyn-based firm whose other projects include similar additions and enlargements to buildings around the city.

Other developments planned nearby on Park Avenue include an 18-story apartment building on the corner of East 120th Street, a 10-story building on East 116th Street, and a large, 330-unit affordable housing project between East 118th and 119th streets — though that latter development has faced some opposition from local lawmakers.