The Columbia Spectator reports that the single level commercial strip that takes up the block between 147th and 148th Street will now be replaced by a 12-story affordable building complex built by Columbia University. Residents of two existing building to be demolished to make way for the new Manhattanville campus further south will eventually move into the 42-unit new construction that will also have retail on street level and house a church formerly located in Manhattanville. Demolition will begin on the new construction site sometimes next month and the entire project is expected to finish within 2 years. Read more details in the Spectator:
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I used to live on that block (147th west of there)... the 99 cent store is pretty freaky, the floor slopes steeply down with the hill. It lost architectural significance when the bunny grotesques were removed a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteMagnusson Architecture & Planning is listed as the architect and they usually do (not architecturally groundbreaking but) high quality affordable stuff. I once toured a (low-income) building of theirs in the south Bronx and it practically felt like luxury housing.
I can't tell whether or not the 42 units are the extent of the building, and thus entirely destined as replacement housing, or if there will be new units at market rates. 12 floors is a lot of space, given the footprint of the lot.
ReplyDeleteThe 99 cent store slopes like that because that building used to be a theater. Most recently it was the Nova Theatre but was originally the Bunny Theatre, named after silent film comedian John Bunny.
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