City Approves Incentives for Harlem Hotel, College

NEW YORK CITY-The New York City Industrial Development Agency approved $8.5 million in sales and real estate tax benefits for a $200-million multi-use project in Harlem that is expected to create as many as 1,500 new jobs. Harlem Park, a 549,000-sf building at 125th Street and Park Avenue was first unveiled a year ago. Half of the project will be a Marriott Courtyard Hotel–the first hotel development in the area in nearly 40 years–with the remainder to be office and retail space as well as a catering facility and underground garage.

The building will be constructed on a 53,000-sf parcel of vacant land, which will be leased from the current owner, the New York College of Podiatric Medicine. The total office space will be about 167,000 sf, and the retail space will be about 62,000 sf. Plans for the hotel include 230 rooms, with conference space and a health club.

IDA president Andrew Alper says the area “continues to grow as one of New York’s emerging business districts. The Harlem Park project is further proof that the area is undergoing tremendous economic development.”