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Now that ABC is o-u-t, prepare yourself for what may be one of the most contested property evaluations in NYC history.
In 2023, Landmark West filed a joint application with Community Board 7, asking the Department of City Planning (DCP) for a map and zoning text amendment that would limit the height of any new buildings constructed on the site. Extell Development purchased the ABC campus—roughly 2.4 acres of land—for $931 million in 2022. The parcel consists of a group of lots bounded by West 66th Street, West 67th Street, Columbus Avenue, and Central Park West. The application asks City Planning to bring the former ABC campus back into the Lincoln Square Special District (LSSD)/ The area had been reconfirmed as being outside of the bounds of the district in 1993 to give the world-renowned broadcasting company more flexibility to adapt to specific conditions that supported its operations. If the application is denied, Extell is already preparing a high-rise of roughly 1,200 feet—the height of the Empire State Building without its spire. The building is being planned for the entire block of Columbus Avenue between 66th and 67th streets.
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“You’re literally putting the Empire State Building on the street with no planning in place,” said Sean Khorsandi, executive director of Landmark West, in an interview with ILTUWS. “City Planning has had more than ample warning to do something [about this] of its own.”
Khorsandi contends that City Planning was initially supportive of their rezoning application. “But now it’s sitting there, and now they’re not doing anything.”
ILTUWS reached out to City Planning to check on the map and zoning text amendment application submitted by Landmark West and Community Board 7. Deputy Press Secretary Joe Marvilli told us, “This application has not yet entered the city’s formal public review process. The community and stakeholders are exploring potential paths forward.” He also suggested watching this video of Community Board 7’s recent Land Use Committee meeting from May 21, which included representatives from DCP and the developer, Extell.
The road ahead for this real estate development is likely to get bumpy. Locals may remember the drawn-out battle over 200 Amsterdam—a seesaw ride that ended with the tower going up despite exceeding the allowed height by roughly 20 floors. A New York State appellate court ultimately let it stand. You can expect sharp eyes on the Upper West Side. This isn’t our first high-rise rodeo.
During the May 21 CB7 Land Use Committee meeting, Extell’s Gary Barnett responded to criticism: “I’ve kind of been hearing rumors and secondhand statements that some people have been spreading about me, and saying that I’m anti-affordable [housing], [that] I don’t like poor people, and it’s extremely upsetting for me to hear that kind of talk.” Barnett added that Extell has built “over 500 units of affordable housing, some of them in the Upper West Side.”
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Currently, there is no affordable housing requirement if Extell builds under the existing zoning parameters. The issue was discussed at length during the CB7 committee meeting. “I’m not interested in a fight,” said Barnett, though he noted he wasn’t going to “pretend that I’m a charity and take 100,000 square feet of super valuable real estate and give it away.” Still, Barnett said he believed there was enough on the table “to get a lot of good done here, and a lot of good done for the community, for the local community.” He described it as a negotiation process.
This isn’t Extell’s first rodeo either. “We fought the last battle. We won the last battle,” Barnett said, likely referencing their 50 West 66th property. “God willing, we’ll win this one too—if we have to do it right.”
City Planning told ILTUWS that their department “cannot require income-restricted affordable housing through zoning via Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) without a significant increase in allowed density, which the Landmark West/CB7 proposal does not include.” They added that, “depending on the scale of the building, Universal Affordability Preference (UAP), which was created as part of City of Yes, could potentially create some income-restricted affordable homes.” Universal Affordability Preference is voluntary, meaning that a development must include affordable housing if it builds to the maximum allowed density, but it is not required to do so in a smaller building.
The DCP concluded by saying that “DCP, the developer, CB7, and local elected officials will continue to discuss ways to possibly include affordable housing in this project.”
ILTUWS informed CB7 and Landmark West of DCP’s response regarding their pending application, which remains at a standstill. Board Chair Beverly Donohue, along with Tibita Kaneene and Seema Reddy, Co-Chairpersons of the Housing and Land Use Committee, issued this statement in response:
Community Board 7 members were encouraged by the discussion at the most recent CB7 Housing and Land Use Committee meeting. The Committee reiterated its priority for the site—to maximize affordable housing. This uniquely large site presents an opportunity to make a significant mark on the Upper West Side, particularly by addressing the pressing need for affordable housing.
DCP briefed us on its plan to impose a zoning text amendment for the site’s zoning, requiring a street wall and modifying the bulk packing regulations. Gary Barnett, founder and chairman of Extell Development, shared a tentative plan to include some affordable housing onsite. Discussion of pressing neighborhood needs included affordable senior housing, as well as affordable family units. This meeting was a welcome restart to a process that has been stalled, and the parties have resolved to meet in the next two weeks to continue the dialogue.
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Sean Khorsandi, executive director of Landmark West, responded to City Planning’s delay on the rezoning decision:
The goal of zoning is to set limits, and the goal of planning is to anticipate community needs. Landmark West began the zoning text amendment to soften the impact of a block historically spot-zoned for ABC’s commercial filming—a block that’s the only one on the Upper West Side with midtown zoning.
After consulting with City Planning, the Borough President, and the Council Member, we prepared an amendment that doesn’t reduce the developer’s rights but guides how massing is realized on this as-of-right site.
Since submitting the application in late 2023, City Planning has ignored it, despite acknowledging at the May 21 CB7 meeting that our proposals largely align.
Without action, the developer could build a tower over 1,200 feet tall—comparable to the Empire State Building’s highest occupiable floor. City Planning says it doesn’t want to impede housing, yet our application envisioned 1,400 units, while the developer proposes just 500.
The ABC logo is now covered, and the news ticker is no longer running. Soon enough, no matter what happens, both will be replaced by dust, noise, and construction equipment. City Planning’s zoning decision will determine just how much.
We’ve reached out to Extell for comment.
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Wow a 1200 foot tower, we have the infrastructure for that. More garbage on the street, more people vying for fewer parking spaces, more people using already overtaxed public transport. This sounds like a great idea. Oh, and years and years of noisy construction and empty retail outlets, sounds great for the neighborhood.
Luxury condos only! DJ here! Hey hall
This is insane. This isn’t midtown.
The new traffic generated alone should be reason to deny this application
This is wild. How likely is it to be approved?
The buildings surrounding the south end of Central Park: Looking more and more like the last episode of the 2000s SciFi series “Battlestar Galactica”.
“There’s got to be some way out of this place said the joker to the thief”.
Twelve hundred feet!?!?! Building a tower that tall on the Upper West Side makes NO sense and I really hope the people of this neighborhood get organized and fight back against this with all they have. 50 w 66th is too tall, already. To put up a tower double that height right on the doorstep of Central Park would cast a horrible literal and figurative shadow over the neighborhood and the park. There has to be a way to stop this.
Hope Landmark West is more organized, stronger and more prepared to fight this than MAS was over 200 Amsterdam. You go! Landmark West!!!!
MAS sure let us down.
You can do more than hope. Your financial support is needed to support LW who has been working hard to stop just such an eventuality. But guess what? CB7 has let us down. Gale Brewer has let us down. The developer Gary Barnet is going to get every thing he wants. It’s appalling.
Totally oppose this sort of development – a monstrous building of this size is completely out of synch with the UWS
If Extell succeeds in building this, we’ll all be stuck with yet another blot on the skyline, another hideous addition that will intrude and offend for generations
AS LONG AS THE CASH FILLED ENVELOPES GET INTO THE RIGHT HANDS, I HAVE NO PROBLEMO WITH THIS.
Everyone in these comments needs to get over themselves.