July 26, 2023 by Kathryn Brenzel
Four buildings on East 17th Street are up grabs — and a reimagining.
The buyer of a 12-story medical building offered by Mount Sinai Beth Israel could convert the property to luxury condos, just as the nearby former Cabrini Medical Center was transformed into a 223-unit high-end complex, now called Gramercy Square.
But a trio of elected officials have a different vision: They want the owner of the property to require the future buyer to set aside a chunk of housing as permanently affordable under the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program. And they want this requirement to also apply to three other buildings the owner is looking to sell.
In a letter sent to the hospital’s CEO Kenneth Davis, Assembly member Harvey Epstein, Sen. Kristen Gonzalez and City Council member Carlina Rivera call on the hospital to apply a deed restriction to the four properties that would — assuming the buildings are demolished or gut renovated to make way for new housing — require the next owner to include affordable housing under the city’s MIH rules.