Jacob Orfali’s First Sigma seeks zoning change to build 354-unit tower on UES

First Sigma, led by Jacob Orfali and Steven Orfali, filed a land-use application yesterday with the city to facilitate the development of a 354-unit, 39-story mixed-use tower at 1097 First Avenue, in the Upper East Side. The proposed project, located at the northwest corner of East 60th Street and First Avenue, seeks to replace a row of century-old buildings with a high-density tower totaling 316,312 zoning square feet. The development site, identified as Block 1435, Lots 20 through 26, is currently occupied by five-story buildings dating back at least to the early 20th century, that contain approximately 116 residential units and about 5,000 square feet of retail.

File 2023M0316 LINK

The proposed 495-foot tower is designed to include 354 dwelling units. Under the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) Option 1, the applicant intends to designate 25 percent of the residential floor area—approximately 89 units—as permanently affordable. Beyond housing, the plans allocate 42,077 square feet for community facility use on the second through fourth floors and 4,372 square feet of ground-floor commercial retail space.

In November 2019, Jacob Orfali borrowed $30 million from UBS secured by seven parcels making up the development site.

To enable the project, the applicant is requesting a zoning map amendment to transition the Project Area from a C8-4 district to an M1-8A/R12 (MX-31) designation. This move would establish a new Special Mixed Use District (MX-31), utilizing high-density tools recently introduced through the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity and Economic Opportunity initiatives. The R12 residential equivalent allows for a maximum 18.0 FAR, a density the applicant argues is consistent with the established high-density character of the First Avenue corridor.

The application follows a decades-long trend of converting the Upper East Side’s industrial C8-4 pockets into residential and institutional hubs. Notable historical precedents include the 1989 Glick Rezoning (C 860117 ZMM), which enabled a 49-story residential development nearby, and the 2005 rezoning at 1129-33 York Avenue (C 040488 ZMM) for a 26-story mixed-use building. More recently, a 2007 rezoning (C 000198 ZMM) facilitated a 37-story tower at York Avenue and East 60th Street.

The proposal highlights a critical need for new housing in Manhattan Community District 8, which has historically been one of the city’s lowest producers of affordable housing. According to HPD data cited in the application, the district has produced only one affordable housing unit for every 1,000 existing units, ranking it as the fifth lowest producer relative to its size citywide. No off-street parking is required or proposed for the new development, as the site is located within the transit-rich Manhattan Core.

The neighborhood

In Lenox Hill, The bulk, or 34 percent of the 53.3 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 30 percent of the space. In sales, Lenox Hill has the highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $4.9 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Lenox Hill has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 23rd highest in Manhattan. It had 1.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 23 of the 33 commercial properties representing 330,428 square feet of the 420,710 square feet. The largest owner is Ari Schertz, followed by First Sigma and then Hirschfeld Properties. There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that First Sigma owned at least seven commercial properties with 116 residential units in New York City with 57,324 square feet and a city-determined market value of $11.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $30 million in debt, borrowed from UBS Bank. Within the portfolio, all identified are hotel properties. They are all located in Manhattan.

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Jacob Orfali, head officer and Joseph Moinian, officer. The business entities are Sks Enterprises Llc and First Sigma De Llc.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 1097 1 Avenue, PincusCo identified five commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those five items, one was for major renovation including a certificate of occupancy change. It was a permit issued on June 17, 2024 for the $6.1 million renovation of 360,518-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 219 residential units at 401 East 60th Street. One of those five items was a sale which Bayrock Capital bought the 41,300-square-foot, eight-unit office building (O6) on 1114 1st Avenue for $19.9 million from Himmel + Meringoff Properties on September 6, 2024. Of those five items, three were loans above $5 million totaling $49.9 million. The most recent of the three was Met Council in which borrowed $13.8 million from NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development secured by the 4,839-square-foot, 53-unit rental (D3) on 351 East 61st Street and six other properties on January 8, 2026.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.