Rendering of proposed tower at 871 7th Avenue. Credit: NYC CPC
Extell Development last week secured a zoning bonus from the city required for the firm’s proposed 1,130-foot-tall tower at the site of Midtown’s former Wellington Hotel. The City Planning Commission last week granted the project at 871 7th Avenue a nearly 120,000-square-foot density bonus; in exchange, Extell will upgrade the nearby 50th Street subway station to be fully accessible. The approval allows for the project to expand by 20 percent, transforming it from a 27-story hotel into a 71-story mixed-use tower with 130 residential units and 156 hotel rooms. As first reported by Crain’s, the expansion utilizes the city’s Zoning for Accessibility (ZFA) program, which offers density bonuses to developers in exchange for transit improvements.
Established in 2021, the ZFA program provides developers with density bonuses of up to 20 percent, or easements that can also increase the size of their projects, in exchange for committing to fund accessibility upgrades at nearby transit stations. The project at 871 Seventh Avenue marks the fifth bonus granted under the program, alongside eight prior easements, according to Crain’s.
It also complements the MTA’s 2022 commitment to make at least 95 percent of its subway stations fully accessible to riders with disabilities by 2055. For this project, Extell said it will add elevators at the northbound and southbound platforms at the 50th Street 1 train station, as well as add a stairway and fare control area at the northbound platform…