Activists welcome Simone's plan B

Activists who successfully fought Montefiore Medical Center’s plans to build a large facility on Riverdale Avenue near West 238th Street are tentatively welcoming a developer’s plan B for the site.

They said the Simone Development Companies’ proposal for a 14-story, 60,000-square-foot, market-rate apartment building is far better than their original idea of building a large health care center for Montefiore, which cancelled its plan in March after months of opposition from community members and elected officials.

“We were pleasantly surprised. We’re not enamored about the size of the building, but the consensus is this is much better for the neighborhood than anything like the medical center they were going to put in,” activist Stuart Gartner said in a phone interview after an Aug. 12 meeting of Community Board (CB) 8’s Land Use Committee, in which a Simone representative and an architect presented their plans.

Those entail 24 one-bedroom apartments and 24 two-bedroom units in 12 stories, with 40 units of parking and a ground floor with a lobby and about 2,500 square feet of retail space below.

“We would like the building to be a condominium, depending on how the market is poised,” Guy Leibler, the president of Simone Healthcare Development, said at the CB 8 meeting. 

Vehicles will access the building, located on the lots at 3733, 3735 and 3741 Riverdale Ave. along with 3644 Oxford Ave., through an entrance on Oxford Avenue.

Mr. Leibler said he expects 18 to 22 months of construction to start next spring, with rock removal taking place in the months before then.

Land Use Committee Chairman Charles Moerdler asked Mr. Leibler to consider building a community space instead of stores, though the developer said he planned on bringing shopping options similar to the mom-and-pop establishments already on Riverdale Avenue.

Jim Grossman, who led an informal group opposed to the previously proposed medical facility with Mr. Gartner throughout last year, also made a request of the developer.

“I would like to ask you to work with us… so we don’t have a battle like we did with Montefiore,” Mr. Grossman said.