(l-r) Church drawing (The New York Times); rendering of new building (Chetrit Group)
Plans for a new project at 260 East 72nd Street date back to 2015, when developer Chetrit Group bought a corner lot from SL Green for $47.3 million. But in recent years, things have started moving quickly. In November 2022, the developer filed plans for a 20-story 230-foot-tall condominium with 53 units and 3,400 square feet of commercial space. About a year later, Commercial Observer announced that they’d secured a $235 million construction loan for the project, and a recent site visit saw excavation and foundation work underway.
The project’s assemblage included a Romanesque-style building at 252 East 72nd Street that once held the Church of St. John the Martyr. The building dated back to the late 19th century and was conceived as a chapel building for a larger structure for the Knox Presbyterian Church. The full vision, to be designed by prolific architect Robert Henderson Robertson, was intended to include a brownstone-faced building with rounded arches and a 125-foot bell tower to celebrate its corner location.
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Google street view showing the now demolished church building
However, according to The New York Times, the full scope was never executed because, in 1891, influential members of the congregation announced that they would secede over their disenchantment of a new pastor. The chapel building was refitted as a Roman Catholic church in 1904 and eventually became sandwiched between two pre-war aparment buildings. and stood for 133 years.
With declining patronage, the church building closed in 2015 and the congregation merged with St. John Nepomucene and St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. In summer 2017, the church was deconsecrated. It was demolished in early 2020, but the pandemic-induced lockdown on non-essential construction put further work on hold.
With declining patronage, the church building closed in 2015 and the congregation merged with St. John Nepomucene and St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. In summer 2017, the church was deconsecrated. It was demolished in early 2020, but the pandemic-induced lockdown on non-essential construction put further work on hold.
Rendering of new project (Chetrit Group)
Renderings of the new building depict a red brick facade, several setback terraces on upper levels, and a planted rooftop. Further details are not yet available on the current project’s apartments or amenities, but one great benefit is its address across the street from the 72nd Street Q train. The Second Avenue subway allows for an easy commute for workers at the aforementioned hospitals and science buildings, but a local residential building boomlet makes it easy for employees to walk to work. The site is one block west of The Charles, and new condos like The Treadwell, The Clare, and Archive Lofts have taken shape to make the most of the subway extension.
Renderings of an unbuilt design featuring a medical building (arslonga)
At one point, renderings of the project showed a glassy medical building to be occupied by Weill Cornell Hospital. As the site is a few blocks west of the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell Medical Center, and The Rockefeller University, not to mention in close proximity to other hospitals and life science buildings in the area, this would not be completely far-fetched. However, Weill Cornell Hospital has made other plans: It will expand its footprint with five floors in the former Sotheby’s headquarters on York Avenue and East 70th Street, and has announced plans for a new, 16-story student residence hall for the corner of East 74th Street and York Avenue.
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