Developer Eyes Vacant Kips Bay Lot for New Housing

A developer is eyeing a vacant lot in Manhattan’s Kips Bay neighborhood for a new residential building.

Daniel Klaynberg, president of Spectra Construction, has filed an application to build a 12-story, 38,405-square-foot building with 43 residential units at 129 East 28th Street, according to a filing last week with the New York City Department of Buildings.

The project would also include 2,681 square feet of commercial space, 442 square feet of community facility space, three enclosed parking spaces and a cellar, the filing shows.

Spokespeople for Spectra and Z Architecture, the architect listed on the project, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

129 East 28th Street is on the western edge of Manhattan’s Kips Bay neighborhood, a few blocks northeast of Madison Square Park. Spectra acquired the 6,180-square-foot lot between Lexington and Park avenues in April for $12.2 million, city records show. 

If approved, the new residential building on the site would be on the same block as Indian restaurant Wok in the Clouds, clothing store Vintage India NYC and French restaurant Chez Francis.

Residential projects aren’t the only thing going up in Kips Bay.

In 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams announced plans to build a 5-acre site along First Avenue and 25th Street for a new life sciences center called Science Park and Research Campus Kips Bay, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

The new campus will house academic institutions such as the City University of New York’s nursing school, the New York City Department of Education and an ambulatory care center for NYC Health + Hospitals, CO reported.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.