Developer General Growth Properties, which filed for bankruptcy in
April, has backed out of the East Harlem Media Entertainment and
Cultural Center, a 1.7 million-square-foot retail and residential
complex proposed for East 125th Street. The other partners plan to
continue with the project and will find a different retail partner or
do the retail development on their own, said Stephen Hayes of project
manager the Carey Group. A group of local property owners filed suit in
state Appellate Court this month against the project, which will
include 600 apartments for moderate and middle-income families. The
property owners argued that the project has limited public benefits
because it is being built by a private developer. [more]