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The Flatiron of 125th Street
Harlem Health Center Has Space
to Spare
by Dave Platter
Construction was completed in November on a $30 million health
center that serves about 17,000 New York Hotel Trades Council
and Hotel Association members.
"I like to imagine it as the Flatiron Building of the
125th Street corridor," said Linda McDowell, chief executive
officer of the union. "The placement of the land allowed
us to make something wonderful."
The trapezoidal site sits on the south side of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard, also known as 125th Street, where
it meets Morningside Avenue. The site is located precisely
where the boulevard makes a turn from its diagonal course
across the city grid back into a line parallel to the other
east-west streets of upper Manhattan.
"You can see the building from several blocks away,"
said Chuck Richmond, the Bovis Lend Lease LMB Inc. project
executive who oversaw the job. "It really catches your
eye as you head east on 125th Street. You see this glass façade
staring at you, which is uncommon in this area," where
most buildings are brick.
Much of the 10-story building's west elevation is glass curtain
wall, while the east and most of the north and south elevations
are brick with windows. Richmond said many of the interior
spaces that abut the curtain wall on the occupied floors are
common areas such as waiting or conference rooms.
"It's completely open and it allows a lot more light
than a normal window would," he added.
The health-care use intended for the building made a steel
structural system with concrete-on-metal deck a logical choice
for the designers, Perkins Eastman Architects of New York.
"Most buildings in the health-care field require more
extensive mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, so
they require a larger floor-to-floor distance," Richmond
said. The Harlem Health Center has 14-ft. ceiling heights.
"Anytime you get into those larger spans you typically
have to use a steel structural system," Richmond added.
The constructed building is substantially different from
what was envisioned in preliminary designs. When the union
purchased the site, "It was literally a hole in the ground,"
McDowell said. "This had been an empty lot for a very
long period of time."
The discovery of water at a depth of just 19 ft. brought
a quick end to plans to build two stories beneath grade. Instead,
the union sought city permission to build a larger structure
above ground. The change permitted an increase of 37,000 sq.
ft. in the planned building's size, from 68,000 to 102,000
sq. ft.
The budget increased correspondingly, from the initial target
of $17 million to the $30 million that was eventually spent.
The development team also changed during the project. After
disputes between the owner and the general contractor, C.
Raimondo & Sons Construction Co. Inc., of Fort Lee, N.J,
the Bovis team was asked to take over the construction. Neither
McDowell nor Richmond would comment on the change.
About 65 percent of the space is now occupied by the health
center, which functions much like an HMO for the exclusive
use of hotel workers, retirees and their families. The majority
of the first five floors are to be dedicated to medical disciplines
such as dental, OB/GYN, pediatrics and general medicine.
For now, most of the remaining space has been left unfinished
for future leasing to retail and commercial tenants.
McDowell said she would have liked to have found tenants
during the construction phase, but her tight schedule forced
her to focus all efforts on completing the medical space.
She wanted the new building operational in time to receive
the patients from another upper Manhattan health center that
was due to close.
She is now seeking short- to medium-term leases with like-minded
organizations. Within 10 to 15 years, McDowell said she expects
her organization to expand to occupy the entire building.
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