Massey Knakal Realty Services has been retained to exclusively represent the Wadsworth Avenue Baptist Church Inc. for the development of the Church’s property at 206-212 Wadsworth Avenue. The property is located on the corner of Wadsworth Avenue and West 184th Street in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood. The asking price is $8,000,000.
The primary goal of the Church is to set aside space and construct a first rate facility, with state-of-the-art amenities, specifically designed to meet the programmatic and operational needs of the Church and its programs and activities. To achieve these goals, the Church seeks to enter into a legal arrangement with a developer who will develop the property and convey to the Church a condominium interest in approximately 30,000 above grade square feet with additional below grade square footage and parking plus an interest in the balance of the development to meet the operation needs of the Church. This additional interest can take the form of a fee interest in another condominium unit in the building, joint venture participation, or some other vehicle that will provide the Church with a steady stream of income to pay for its expenses and support its programs. The RFP is now available and all submissions are due by March 31st, 2014.
The Church is committed to working promptly to bring about the development of the site, taking into account that the respective goals and needs of the Church are consistent with improvement of the overall Washington Heights community.
The site is rectangular in shape and has approximately 100 feet of frontage on Wadsworth Avenue and 150 feet of frontage along West 184th Street. Currently, an irregularly shaped, approximately 13,381 square foot church is situated on the property. The FAR for community facility use is 6.5 and the lot area is approximately 15,000 square feet. Therefore, the maximum potential zoning floor area is approximately 97,500 square feet. With the Church taking approximately 30,000 square feet above grade for sanctuary and residential use, it leaves 67,500 for the developer. This does not include any cellar or below grade space in which the Church intends to utilize 60,000 square feet for multipurpose use or parking.
To aid them in their efforts, Wadsworth Avenue Baptist Church has enlisted Massey Knakal Realty Services’ Robert M. Shapiro to exclusively market the property. “Substantial corner developments sites of this size are a rare find in today’s market. The uniqueness of the steep sloping street may provide for significant below grade development at low costs, with parking as well as ample light and air. This is a tremendous opportunity to develop residential apartments in concert with one of Washington Heights’ oldest religious organizations,” said Robert Shapiro.
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Neighborhoods: Washington Heights/ Agents: Robert Shapiro