Historic church redevelopment proceeds after CB10 approves rezoning

Community Board 10 approved Artimus Constructions proposal Wednesday to rezone St. Nicholas Avenue between 117th and 118th streets on Wednesday night, in return for the developers promise to transform a historic church on the block into a community art space.

The boards original plan to build a residential development on St. Nicholas Avenue ran afoul due to zoning restrictions that would limit its permitted height, making the 12-story building Artimus Construction envisioned an impossibility.

But at the meeting on Wednesday, Artimus representatives came before CB10 with a compromise: If the zoning regulations were changed, Artimus could use the income from the additional residential units to fund the preservation of St. Thomas the Apostle Churchlocated at West 118th Street and St. Nicholas Avenueand the redevelopment of St. Thomas the Apostle School that shares the block. Both the church and the school are currently closed.

The new development will have 80 percent market-rate housing and 20 percent affordable housing, as well as a studio for Millennium Dance Company on the ground floor.

Calling St. Thomass current condition desanctified, Melanie Meyers, an attorney for Artimus, said that using the renovated church as an affordable rental space for art groups would be a great asset for the community.

Artimus has been actively involved in the West Harlem community for a while and is involved with several new developments in the area, including the site of a former BP gas station at 110th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, which Artimus plans to redevelop into a housing and retail complex.

We see this as a very important structure of the community, Ken Haron, president of Artimus, said of St. Thomas. We were afraid that some other people would just demolish it.

But, according to Haron, the church renovation is contingent on the block being rezoned.

We have to have the income from other things, Haron said, referring to the extra apartment units the proposed change would allow.

On Jan. 30, Artimus held an open house at the church to present the project and hear from community members. Among those present were theater professionals and nonprofit organizations, all of whom were invited to take the microphone and share their ideas in front of coordinators, architects, and others involved in the renovation of the church.

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Historic church redevelopment proceeds after CB10 approves rezoning