When Lehman bought the 38-story office tower at 49th Street and7th Avenue from Morgan Stanley, it also took on the zoningresponsibility of designating a portion of its space--roughly38,000 sf--to entertainment-related enterprises. But while newbuildings within the Theater Subdistrict core that are larger than60,000 sf must devote roughly 5% of their available floor area toentertainment uses, owners need maintain only 25% of that spaceonsite; the remaining 75% can be located anywhere within theTheater Subdistrict.

Lehman, however, says Morgan Stanley looked high and low foroffsite space within the designated area and came up empty handed.Its answer, which Lehman wants to adopt, was to expand thereceiving area--the space within the Theater Subdistrict core whereit is allowed to offload entertainment space. Currently, buildingowners who want to take their properties' entertainment spaceoffsite are bound by a rectangular area that runs from 40th Streetnorth to 57th Street and from Avenue of the Americas west to EighthAvenue. Lehman wants to expand the district south to 34th Streetand West to 10th Avenue.

The newly described district would give Lehman plenty of room tomaneuver. But if it prevails at today's hearing, Lehman'shouse-hunting days are over. Alvin Ailey is more than happy toaccept Lehman's $5 million and Community Boards Four and Five havealready recommended the plan--after adding a few amendments oftheir own--to Planning Commission chairman Joseph B. Rose. Thecommunity boards' main changes are to place the northern andsouthern borders at 57th Street and 42nd Street, respectively, andto place the western boundary 150 feet west of Ninth Avenue,thereby including the Alvin Ailey property without expanding thedistrict all the way to 10th Avenue. They also restrict theentertainment-related usage within the proposed expansion space,mainly to rehearsal and performance space. (The Planning Commissionis in no way bound by the boards' recommendation. Community boardsin New York City are strictly advisory in nature.)