New Condo's Impact In Question

As a new condominium building rises just east of Morningside Park, local residents have begun to question how their new neighbors will fit into the community.

Construction of the Alycia—located at 304 West 114th Street between Frederick Douglass Boulevard and Manhattan Avenue—will be completed within two months, according to Richard Shiu, managing partner at New York Real Estate Partners, which has overseen the project along with Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group.

Shiu said prices range from $500,000 for a one-bedroom condo to $875,000 for the most expensive unit. The Alycia’s Web site advertised a rooftop deck with a grill, as well as European-style cabinetry and gas fireplaces.

“We are continuing the northern migration,” Shiu said. “This is more affordable housing northwards. It is not luxury, it is just affordable.”

But many residents challenged Shiu’s characterization of the building as reasonably priced, citing his own cost figures.

“What this is, is the poor and the middle class being evicted,” local resident Renee Green said. “We need someone to restore this place.”

But others saw the construction in a more positive light, noting the valuable changes it could bring to this neighborhood in South Harlem, which is plagued by abandoned brownstones and rundown buildings.

“It seems like they are cleaning up New York,” said Destiny Robinson, whose mother works in the area and is considering buying an apartment there. “I like all these places they are building.”

Sherief Elsa, an employee at a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts, was also optimistic about the impact of the construction.

“It’s an improvement to the neighborhood,” Elsa said. “It will change the community—more security, less trouble.”

The Web site advertises the building as “a welcome addition to this thriving, hip uptown community,” and emphasizes its proximity to “upscale shopping” and “trendy restaurants.”

But even those excited about the new addition questioned whether condominiums would be economically successful in the midst of a recession.

“A lot of these places are being built, but it does not seem like they are really selling,” local mailman Ini Etuk said. “Often they have to cut these spaces down—a three-bedroom turns into a two-bedroom and a one-bedroom. No one can afford to pay.”

Yet Shiu maintained that all but a couple of the units in the building have been sold.

“We have mostly single, first-time home buyers,” Shiu explained of the incoming residents. “I would say we are making the neighborhood more of a melting pot. I don’t particularly believe one neighborhood has to be one ethnicity.”

“Everyone deserves a place to stay,” said Brandy Johnson, a resident of the Parkside Appartments building near the Alycia. “We don’t have a choice—I just hope they will be good neighbors.”

Johnson nonetheless expressed disapproval at the construction, which has taken about two years. She noted that the work has created rodent and dust problems in the area.

“It was a horrible, horrible thing,” she said. “It’s just frustrating that they really didn’t give the neighborhood a chance to discuss this.”

Melvin Christian, the housing committee chair for Community Board 10, echoed Johnson’s concerns.

“Contractors like to come in and do construction, without taking care of the community,” he said.

He added that construction problems like those Johnson described can breed animosity between old and new residents.
“The innocent people who move in here should be able to come in with ease,” he said.

“We understand the neighborhood is changing, and the value is increasing,” Johnson said. “But for us, it is devaluing when they build into your backyard, with people looking right into your apartment.”

The Alycia was constructed on a vacant lot, and no existing buildings were demolished to accommodate it.

Ultimately, Christian viewed the shift in housing and demographics as inevitable.

“There are going to be changes in Harlem no matter what anyone says,” he said. “We just have to make sure the community is not overrun or overburdened with condos that do not relate to the neighborhood.”