The Upper East Side, once known as the Silk Stocking District, has embraced cotton scrubs, but not everyone is excited about it.
According to a new report from CBRE, CBRE is seeing increased demand for health care services, especially for those 75 and older, as the tony region is becoming a “central node” for the tri-state region’s health care sector. listed.
Five major new hospital and medical projects are rising, and three more large-scale and highly controversial projects are being proposed, amidst the upscale homes and shops of the upper class.
Since 2018, new leases and expansions in medical facilities in Manhattan have totaled nearly 5.4 million square feet, much of it concentrated north of 59th Street on the East Side, according to research by CBRE.
Facilities say expansion is essential to providing state-of-the-art care now and in the future.
But while a grassroots movement will put a knife to the three proposed projects currently undergoing city review, neighbors of the towering towers are already complaining about construction noise, unsafe conditions and a nuisance to their quality of life. complaining.
Issues range from suspected long-term damage to the economic and social infrastructure of neighborhoods to temporary headaches in relatively low-rise residential areas.
At the 16-story Weill Cornell Graduate Residence Hall at 1393 York Avenue at East 74th Street, the roofless and bright construction lights kept residents of neighboring apartments sleepless for months.
A neighbor of Realty Check complained, “I can hear it even from my awning,” with misty-eyed eyes.
The UES has long had major medical facilities along the “hospital row” on York Street, including Lenox Hill Hospital on Lexington Street. In recent years, these financial institutions have decided to purchase or develop parcels they own along 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Avenues, much to the consternation of locals.
The three jumbos were first reported by the Post. The 12-story Anna Maria and Stephen Kellen Tower at the Hospital for Special Surgery spans FDR Drive at East 70th Street. A 30-story clinic and treatment building developed by Extell leased to HSS at 1st Avenue and East 79th Street. Iron Horse Labs, located on East 94th Street, was developed by Elevate Research Properties, a subsidiary of Taconic Partners.
In addition, a 15-story Northwell Health Victoria and Lloyd Goldman Health Care Pavilion for outpatient care recently broke ground on the corner of Third Avenue and East 77th Street, and Weill Cornell Graduate Student Residences are nearing completion.
Meanwhile, two proposals have sparked fierce opposition that goes beyond the usual NIMBY complaints. It is a towering expansion of Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital on Lexington Avenue at East 76th Street. The new Sloan Kettering Cancer Memorial Pavilion at York Avenue and East 66th Street. New York Blood Center Tower at 310 E. 67th St.
The $1.6 billion Lenox Hill project is opposed by the Lenox Hill Neighborhood Preservation Commission, led by private equity investor Andrew Gaspar. His group, backed by state Sen. Liz Krueger, said the zoning variance sought by the hospital’s parent company, Northwell, to build a 26-story tower on top of the existing building is only slightly larger. Instead, it claims it will result in “giant buildings” with two and one floors. Half the size of the current zoning.
“What kind of ‘difference’ is that?” the group asked on social media.
Gaspard says he loves Lenox Hill — “All four of my children were born there” — but the project, which the hospital says will take 11 years to complete, is a major challenge to the Second Avenue subway construction. It would similarly “destroy” businesses and endanger the people around them.
His group submitted a petition to the city with 6,000 signatures. The proposal is under consideration by the City Planning Department.
Also under consideration is MSK’s proposal to expand the existing 31-story Cancer Pavilion to the equivalent of 62 stories. At least three civic groups oppose the project, which would require the demolition of apartment buildings: Friends of the Upper East Side, CIVITAS, and Carnegie Hill Neighbors.
The Friends group called the project “outsized,” “extremely large” and environmentally risky.
The proposal was conditionally approved by Community Board 8’s Land Use Committee and will be sent to the Manhattan Borough President’s Office once finalized by CB8.
“Each project has the potential to generate significant capital investment through job creation and investment,” said Councilmember Julie Menin, who represents Manhattan’s Fifth District, which stretches from Third Avenue to York Street. , each should be carefully scrutinized to reduce community impact and disruption.
“There is so much construction going on that adjustments need to be made. Each has to be weighed on its own merits. There is no one-size-fits-all,” she said.
Menin has not yet taken a position on the MSK plan, which will likely be presented to the board in the fall.
There is also extensive support for UES development.
CBRE Tri-State CEO Mary Ann Tye said: The interaction between the clinicians serving patients every day and the researchers developing new treatments in the lab is the magic combination that creates cures. ”
“It’s only the proximity that makes this dynamic possible,” said Tai, who lives on the Upper East Side and is married to a surgeon.
