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Spitzer’s UES condo gets the green light 

Landmarks Preservation Commission ok’d 26-unit, 19-story building at 985 Fifth Avenue

Eliot Spitzer and rendering of 985 Fifth Avenue (Getty, SLCE Architects)
Eliot Spitzer and rendering of 985 Fifth Avenue (Getty, SLCE Architects)

A dispute over a pit failed to bury Eliot Spitzer’s high-end condo plans on Fifth Avenue.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved Spitzer Enterprises’ proposal to raze an existing property at 985 Fifth Avenue to make way for a 19-story luxury condo building, 6sqft reported. The Upper East Side lot will lose nearly half of its units, as the 46 rentals in place will be replaced by only 26 apartments.

The LPC needed to weigh in because the existing property is in the Metropolitan Museum Historic District. The commission, however, decided the existing building didn’t contribute to the district’s cohesion.

Spitzer’s planned property can be built as-of-right, avoiding the cost and hassle of a rezoning.

The chief obstacle for the former governor has proven to be the building next door. The co-op board of 980 Fifth Avenue argued that it has used a pit on the south side of 985 Fifth Avenue as a storage site for more than three decades. It filed an adverse possession lawsuit against Spitzer over the 350-foot space, which is owned by Spitzer’s building.

Spitzer called the lawsuit an “embarrassment.”

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Spitzer filed his plans for a condo building situated between East 79th and East 80th streets on Fifth Avenue last year. Designed by SLCE Architects, it will replace a rental property built by his father, Bernard Spitzer, more than a half-decade ago.

The 106,000-square-foot project will have two setbacks and a limestone-colored facade. Pricing for the building hasn’t been announced, but a source said the firm is targeting the highest part of the market.

One could guess Spitzer is seeking higher rents than the firm was already commanding at the soon-to-be razed building, which were already rather gaudy. A unit on the 20th floor recently asked for $17,000 per month. Early last year, the 1,900-square-foot penthouse rented for $30,000 per month.

Demolition is expected to begin next year, while completion of the replacement is projected for 2028.

— Holden Walter-Warner

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Condo MarketEliot SpitzerFifth AvenueLandmarks Preservation CommissionReal Estate LawsuitsSpitzer EnterprisesUpper East Side