Overview
The Southeast site development is on the corner of Morningside Drive and Cathedral Parkway (110th Street). In September 2006, the Cathedral entered into a 99-year lease with AvalonBay Communities, Inc., a real estate investment trust, to build and manage a 20-story 296-unit residential rental property that will have 80% market rate units and 20% affordable units (see Affordable Housing below). The building, called Avalon Morningside Park, will feature a mix of studio, one-, two-, and three- bedroom apartments.
No buildings on the campus will be demolished or altered as a result of this development.
Design
The Cathedral set strict development guidelines for what could be built, which were recorded in a Restrictive Declaration with the City of New York. The guidelines set a limit on the height and bulk of new development, require that open space surround the structure and views of the Cathedral be protected. Further, the Cathedral’s Design Review Committee stipulated that two important goals of the of the project would be first to repair and complete the unfinished corner of Cathedral Parkway and Morningside Drive, thereby visually connecting the site to Morningside Park, and second, to relate the new building to the Cathedral and the Close using a contemporary vocabulary and high quality materials.
AvalonBay selected R. M. Kliment & Frances Halsband Architects, an award-winning New York-based architectural firm, to design the structure. Avalon Morningside Park features a two-story glass entrance opening onto Cathedral Parkway. The corner of Cathedral Parkway and Morningside Drive will be transformed from an isolated area to an attractively landscaped space. With staff in the lobby around the clock, and people entering and exiting the building, the corner will be a far more friendy one for pedestrians.
As required by law, the building will have a garage for tenants.
Improvements to the Close
- A new and significantly enhanced play area has been created
just south of the Cathedral building. This amenity is open to the public when not in use by The Cathedral School,
A.C.T. and other programs.
- A new garden replaced the Rose Garden that was slightly west of its current location.
- An attractive fence
replaced the chain link and razor wire barrier
on the east side of the property.
- The
collapsed retaining wall on 110th street was rebuilt.
Affordable Housing
Morningside Park participated in New York City’s Housing Development Corporation’s 80/20 Program. Twenty percent, or 59 apartments, were reserved for individuals and families whose income does not exceed fifty percent of the area median income, adjusted for family size. Preference will be given to working individuals and families in the surrounding neighborhood.
In order to make the 80/20 program possible, the Cathedral established a Housing Mission Fund that contributes $200,000 annually to support the affordable housing component.
