One corner of the Upper West Side is suddenly looking a whole lot like Times Square.
A giant advertisement reaching more than 12 stories high has gone up at 720 West End Ave. (and W. 95th St) at the site of what was formerly the Salvation Army Edgar J. & Lyndon Perkins Williams Memorial Residence, a senior housing complex that closed in 2019.
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The banner includes the slogan “Up End The West End” and links to 720WestEnd.com. According to the website, the building will house 138 condominiums designed by Thomas Juul-Hansen and amenities like a swimming pool, music studio, wine cellar, basketball and squash courts, on-site parking, and even a dog-washing room. The building’s Instagram account says: “For a storied avenue, a new conversation starts in Spring 2024.” A construction notice outside the building indicates the project’s anticipated completion date is November 2024.
The building was constructed in 1927 by Emery Roth, whose other UWS landmarks include The San Remo, The Eldorado, The Beresford, and The Ardsley. Brack Capital Real Estate purchased the facility from the Salvation Army for $108 million in 2015, then sold it to Wafra Capital Partners for $165 million in late 2021. Residents of the senior center began moving out in 2016.
The proposed sale of the building made headlines in 2014 when New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman publicly opposed the transaction, questioning both the sale price and whether tenant protection laws would be violated. Several other city officials also opposed the sale.
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“It’s outrageous that the Salvation Army would do this,” said New York City Councilmember Gale Brewer at the time.
The transaction ultimately proceeded after the Salvation Army and residents of the senior center struck a deal which involved the construction of a new facility: EastView at 2306 Third Avenue in East Harlem.
Prior to selling the building to Wafra Capital Partners, Brack Capital Real Estate’s plans for condo development were approved by the Landmark Preservation Commission. According to Cityscape, those plans allow Wafra to add nearly 15,000 square feet above ground and close to 4,000 square feet below. Wafra has not yet responded to ILTUWS’s request for more information.
A complete eyesore. It’s a 10 story high model with puffy lips directly across the street from an elementary school. Clearly the developers do not understand the Upper West Side.
Agreed! It’s not fitting at all and completely inappropriate. It should be taken down and replaced with a smaller, more family friendly ad.
What is a “family-friendly ad”?
Family friendly usually refers to less sexually provocative. Glad I could help.
Yes, I’m aware of the meaning; thank you for being glad to help. What is “sexually provocative” about this particular ad, though? The most offensive thing about the image by far is those hideous shoes!
Posing a model across from a public school epitomizes The New UWS; so your good with it, OK.
I do however agree with you on the shoes.
Puffy Lips: “eyeroll”. I’m surprised you were able to unclutch your pearls long enough to type this comment.
Please, an ad like this is nothing compared to what these kids see when they scroll through their social media.
So your bar for evaluation is “it’s not as bad as something else”.
Another luxury condo? There’s already one around the corner on 96th and Broadway that isn’t even fully occupied. There’s one on 91st and Broadway that was recent built plus another new one near the 94th Street and Broadway subway station. Who is moving into these buildings? Here’s a novel idea – why not have AFFORDABLE housing? Maybe build condos that WORKING MIDDLE CLASS can afford. These are people that are in the neighborhood full time and give the neighborhood charm. Not these investment property buyers that are never or barely here. When will anyone listen?
The ad is not the problem; after all it’s only temporary. The problem is the lack of affordable housing for middle and working class residents of the city, a problem that so far as I can tell from the above article, this revamped building does nothing to address.
It exacerbated the problem by replacing senior housing with Super-Expensive condos. My father-in-law lived there when this was a multi-generational neighborhood.
Welcome to the neighborhood….if you’re spectacularly wealthy.
If only P.S. 75 could be as fancified, valued and lauded as the newly gilded 720 West End.
As for the eyesore Land of the Giants advertisement, children trying to learn should see better things outside their school windows than massive body parts in loud attire.