MTA Applies for Zoning Change to Build 684 Homes Near Second Avenue Subway

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is looking for approval from the city to build almost 700 homes near what will be the terminus of the completed Second Avenue Subway.

The state transit agency filed an application with the New York City Council to build 684 units of housing at Lexington Avenue and East 125th Street as part of a transit-oriented development plan, but the MTA has yet to choose a developer for the project.

One of the parcels, acquired from Extell Development in 2023 for $82 million, sits at 160 East 125th Street, which is the site of a demolished supermarket zoned for low-rise commercial and residential structures.

The acquisition of the property was the result of negotiations that swung between a ​​$45.4 million offer from the MTA, which Extell rejected while making a demand for $114 million. The two met in the middle, according to the amNewYork Metro.

The MTA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A successful end to the MTA’s Uniform Land Use Review Process would also likely benefit JCS Realty’s Jacob Schwimmer, who purchased the neighboring 180 East 125th Street for $70 million in December 2024 and now plans a 15-story development.

Phase two of the Second Avenue Subway is an extension of the Q line from East 96th Street to East 125th Street. That project has been decades in the making and is expected to cost $7.7 billion, according to the Federal Transit Administration, and should be operational sometime between 2030 and 2039.

The future of the project — the first phase of which was completed at the beginning of 2017 — was called into question after Gov. Kathy Hochul paused the commencement of congestion pricing in the summer of 2024, only to finally implement the tolling program for central Manhattan in January 2024. 

She did, in the meantime, allocate $54 million to keep work on the extension running on schedule.

Mark Hallum can be reached at [email protected].