A super slim Upper East Side townhouse that couldn’t be redeveloped for decades due to its narrow width can now become a 15-story tower thanks to recently passed ‘City of Yes’ legislation.
Driving the News: Architect-designer pair Nory and Cheryl Hazaveh purchased 37 E. 83rd St. near Madison Avenue from Taconic Partners for $8 million, according to a deed made public last week, according to Crain’s New York Business.
Why It Matters: The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity program, enacted in December, relaxed height restrictions that have blocked development on small lots for more than 40 years, Crain’s New York reports. The change allows developers to tap into previously unusable air rights, even if it means pencil thin buildings towering over neighbors.
Catch Up Quick: The five-story townhouse, formerly a residential co-op, sits on a site measuring only 18 feet across, per Crain’s. A 1983 zoning law capped buildings on lots narrower than 45 feet at about 100 feet or 10 stories to prevent out-of-scale “sliver buildings.”
By the Numbers: The 5,800-square-foot structure comes with about 12,600 square feet of air rights, creating a total zoning package of roughly 18,400 square feet that could accommodate a 15-story tower, Crain’s notes. The mixed-use zoned property isn’t landmarked and requires no rezoning.
What They’re Saying: “I think this project could be the first time the City of Yes sliver rule will be put to the test,” Jason Haber, broker for the property at Compass, told Crain’s.
