Cathedral reaches development deals

The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine announced recently that it had reached two agreements regarding development of several acres of church-owned vacant land around the cathedral, located on Amsterdam Avenue in Morningside Heights. One agreement gives nearby Columbia University three-and-a-half years to lease and develop a 2.2-acre plot just north of the cathedral, on West 113th Street. The other gives AvalonBay Communities the option to build market-rate rental apartments on land at the corner of West 110th Street and Morningside Drive. more [NYT]