Judge Revokes Building Permit For Massive UWS Development That Is Basically Built

The developers of a residential tower in Manhattan may have to deconstruct 20 floors, after the state Supreme Court last week ruled that a building permit should be pulled.

SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan America are developing 200 Amsterdam Ave., a 668-foot, 112-unit condominium that is almost complete. On Thursday, Justice Franc Perry ruled the Department of Buildings permit that allowed it to reach 668 feet should be revoked, The New York Times reports.

Community groups have long argued the tower shouldn’t have been allowed to be that high, because it merged different tax lots in order to skirt local zoning rules. The developers are appealing the decision, but the Times reports one reading of the law means they could have to backtrack and take out as many as 20 stories.

Representatives for the community organizations against the development said the decision set a new precedent and that they were “elated.”

The developers were given the green light to move ahead with the project in 2018 after the city’s Board of Standards and Appeals found they were not in breach of zoning rules. The critics of the development vowed to continue to fight the plan, The Real Deal reported at the time. 

Herrick, Feinstein attorney Scott Mollen, who is representing the project, told the Times the ruling went against established interpretation of the zoning.

The building features a one-bedroom asking $3.1M and a four-bedroom priced at $21M, per StreetEasy. SJP Properties Chairman Steve Pozycki told Mansion Global this month that he was moving to the building and that lack of construction on the Upper West Side had meant there was “pent-up demand," and many of the buyers were locals to the neighborhood.