Chelsea Church Sells Off Air Rights to Rising 11-Story Neighbor

In a deal kept quiet from the neighbors, the French Evangelical Church on West 16th Street in Chelsea has sold off its air rights to the Einhorn Development Group for an undisclosed sum. The deal comes after the church sold a neighboring parcel for $4 million in 2012 to the development group who intended to erect a six-story building in its place, much in keeping with the scale of the neighborhood, DNAinfo reports. Now, with the air rights, Einhorn (not to be confused with these people, also named Einhorn) is planning an 11-story, 14-unit condo for the parcel at 124 West 16th Street.

The tower will be designed by David Howell's DHD Architecture, who pledges to keep the tall tower's design in-tune with the neighborhood. With the locals' disdain for the building that will "blossom... like a weed" amongst the characteristic six-and-seven-story buildings, what does the church stand to gain? Funny enough, it'll get three of the 14 luxury apartments, as well as use of the 3,000-square-foot community room and a dedicated elevator to make the church handicap accessible. The church will use the revenue from the sales to fix up the 125 year old structure.