The Albanese Organization is considering converting a 293-unit rent-stabilized residential building in Battery Park City into condominiums.
The developer filed a “test the market” application with the the New York State Attorney General’s office earlier this month, allowing it to engage in basic marketing activities before deciding it wants to go through will a full conversion and public offering plan.
The Solaire at 20 River Terrace has no active rental listings, according to StreetEasy. And despite its rent-stabilization status, one-bedroom apartments there have recently leased for as much as $5,500 a month.
A representative for Albanese did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
Some community members are already expressing their opposition to the plan. Neighborhood paper the Broadsheet reported that Community Board 1 chair Anthony Notaro has spoken out against displacing the hundreds of residents currently living at the building.
“It is regrettable that renters and neighbors will lose the protection they have had since this building opened,” he told the publication. “That will be a challenge that no one wants to face, in uprooting families and a support network.”
The Solaire’s neighbor, 22 River Terrace, underwent condo conversion in 2014, after Rockrose Development sold it to Centurion Development for $265 million. At the time, Centurion was accused of ramping up evictions of tenants under what was supposed to be a “non-eviction” plan.
Built in 2002, the 27-story Solaire was one of the first green residential towers in the country to be gold-level LEED-certified.