New apartments are coming on top of a church at 142 West 81st Street in the Upper West Side.
Located between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues in the Central Park West Historic District, the existing five-story structure is currently home to Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church. The proposed conversion would add two stories and create a total of seven apartments, according to permits filed late last week.
DXA Studio is the architect of record. According to the plan exam application, there will be 4,492 square feet of community facility space and 21,052 square feet of residential space. That’s approximately 3,000 square feet per apartment, which seems ridiculously large, but then again, the building does sit on a 62.5′ by 102′ lot. The top two floors will be occupied by a duplex, and the Schedule A filing indicates that there will be a first-floor church lobby and sanctuary in the revamped building. The estimated cost of the alteration is $1.2 million.
Public records say that Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church has owned the property since at least 1976.
In 2006, the church proposed plans to “preserve the [building] facade, demolish the church behind it and build a new, smaller sanctuary and other facilities plus market-rate residential spaces for sale or rent,” according to Upper West Side Developments, a blog by the office of former City Council member (now Manhattan Borough President) Gale Brewer.
Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church also operates Mt. Pleasant Christian Academy at 2009-2011 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in Harlem.
Photos of the property below, taken by us today:
We blog hardcore about NYC new development. Subscribe to our newsletter here.
