The building, a joint venture between the Jack Parker Corp. andthe Moinian Group, will be ready for occupancy in spring 2003.Originally planned as a 62-story high rise, neighborhood activistssucceeded in pressuring the developers to drop the height to 51stories with 20% of the units designated as affordable housing.Further efforts to bring the building in under 50 storiesfailed.

"It's unfortunate that the developers decided to ignore thecommunity's concerns regarding the size and impact of this massivebuilding." Clinton Special District Coalition president John Fishertells GlobeSt.com.

Getting the project off the ground required assembling a complexpackage of tax breaks, stacked air rights from the adjacentBiltmore Theater and a nearby firehouse, a $20-million restorationof the theater and the 80-20 affordable-housing mix that qualifiesit for a $155-million mortgage from the state's Housing FinanceAgency.