Rendering of 371 Manhattan Avenue, a single family home for artist Ghada Amer (via LL Engineering PC)
The charming blocks of Harlem siding Frederick Douglass Boulevard are the epicenter of Uptown's revitalization and gentrification. Over the years, owners have restored dozens of buildings and have filled in vacant lots with some good and not-so-good projects. Now here below are two more for the latter category.
At 321 West 136th Street, between Edgecombe Avenue and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, a quaint Victorian building will be replaced by a bland 6-floor residential building. Brooklyn-based Stuyvesant Group, led by Adam Cohen, are the barbarians at the helm. There will be five full floor apartments and two basement units. A rendering posted at the site shows that the building will be fronted with red brick with a cast-stone base. There will also be a row of black-metal balconies.
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Brown Harris Stevens handled the sale of the property in late 2015 which closed for $2.2M. According to their listing, the building was built as stables in 1887 for Dore Lyon and designed by architect William H. Boylan. The building later served as a neighborhood school.
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The second less-than-palatable structure is taking shape at 371 Manhattan Avenue between West 115th and 116th streets. The project shoulders a beautiful string of townhouses and involves the conversion and expansion of a church building into a single-family, 5,800 sq. ft. home. The pre-existing church had already suffered from insensitive alterations and this overhaul may actually be considered an improvement.
City records show that Egyptian contemporary artist Ghada Amer is the owner and under the LLC Blue Ashes, paid $1.2 million for the building in 2013. Brooklyn-based SO–IL are the architects and the recently-unshrouded façade shows that the designers took a minimalistic approach in mimicking the arch and square window openings of townhouses along the block.
City records show that Egyptian contemporary artist Ghada Amer is the owner and under the LLC Blue Ashes, paid $1.2 million for the building in 2013. Brooklyn-based SO–IL are the architects and the recently-unshrouded façade shows that the designers took a minimalistic approach in mimicking the arch and square window openings of townhouses along the block.
Interior at 371 Manhattan Avenue (LL Engineering PC)
371 Manhattan Avenue as of mid August (CityRealty)
371 Manhattan Avenue (CityRealty)
As said by Harlem photographer Washington - Melchizedek, "The character and integrity of the architecture in Harlem is a classic story of endurance, perseverance, and true neighborhood. It is a place that echoes with the voices of American ancestry, ingenuity cultural, religious, and regal charismatic leadership, a platform still striving to maintain its character." Perhaps these storied and beautiful blocks should be given the protections they deserve.
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