UPTOWNflavor

The recent sale of several former Mitchell-Lama properties in Harlem threatens the pool of affordable rentals for Harlemites. Excerpts from an article that appears in The New York Observer today:

Each building, one by one, has been taken off the Mitchell-Lama program with the intention of hiking up rents and making the portfolio look more attractive to potential bidders.

So, the prices! According to city records, two buildings—one at 1890 Lexington and one at 1990 Lexington—sold together for $99.7 million. The apartment building at 1890 Lexington is between 117th and 118th streets, and the building at 1990 Lexington is just off 122nd Street. Two other buildings—one at 455 East 102nd Street and the other at 1940 First Avenue—sold together for more than $187 million. The buildings are within two blocks of each other and are near the F.D.R. Drive.

The biggest building, the 35-story 3333 Broadway, sold for nearly $280 million, with two separate sale prices in city records, with one for $158 million and the other for $119 million. The massive tower has been the clearest symbol of the city’s loss of affordable housing, with Mr. Schron taking the building out of the Mitchell-Lama program shortly after Lee Bollinger announced his plans for an expanded Columbia University campus uptown.

Source: NY Observer [NYO]