Chapman proposes UES rental tower despite likely opposition

The Chapman Group wants to rezone a site in Yorkville to make way for a 500-unit rental tower. Securing approval could be a tall task.

An entity tied to the developer filed plans for a 484-foot-tall building at 221-243 East 94th Street. To comply with the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing law, the developer would set aside 25 percent of the units for households earning an average of 60 percent of the area median income, with a minimum of 10 percent earning 40 percent of AMI.

The project likely faces an uphill climb. It requires zoning changes to allow for its size — 457,000 square feet — and residential use; the site is designated for manufacturing. It would also use nearly 162,000 square feet of air rights from neighboring sites.

Chapman bought the parcel at 231-239 and 241-243 East 94th Street — currently parking garages and a vacant, five-story residential building — in 2016 for $37.5 million, records show.

Patch first reported Chapman’s plans. A representative for the developer could not immediately be reached for comment.

As part of the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or Ulurp, the project needs approval from the City Council. The neighborhood is represented by Julie Menin, who opposed the New York Blood Center rezoning on the Upper East Side when she was running for office.

That rezoning passed despite opposition from then-Council member Ben Kallos, bucking the body’s tradition of deference to the local Council member on land-use issues. But the Blood Center project was seen by Kallos’ colleagues as having citywide importance, a status not likely to be granted to a proposed apartment tower.

Menin did not support allowing the high-rise science building to rise midblock, even after a little more than 100 feet was shaved from its proposed height. If she considered 218 feet tall to be out of step with the neighborhood, Chapman’s 46-story building, between Second and Third avenues, may not sit well. Menin’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Developers often propose large projects knowing they will need to downsize them and make other concessions to gain approval. Once a rezoning application is certified by the Department of City Planning, the public review can take up to seven months. Chapman’s figures to learn its fate in March or April.

Mayor Eric Adams has shown willingness to throw his support behind controversial projects with affordable apartments, recently backing the Bruckner Boulevard rezoning. The mayor’s first management report, released Friday, showed a 45 percent drop in the number of affordable housing units in the pipeline this year compared to last year.