Could This Block Of 4th Avenue End Up With Multiple Tall Buildings?

For sale signs are posted on the building on the corner of 4th Avenue and Degraw, a few doors down from two buildings that will be torn down and replaced by an 18-unit 11-story apartment building. The properties for sale are 161-171 4th Avenue, listed by Grenier-Maltz, which includes the empty lot on the corner.

The listing notes that there are about 19,140 square feet of buildable space, and that the zoning allows for 10-12 stories of retail, residential, or mixed use development here. “4th Avenue is on a steady upswing and gentrification has begun to set in,” the listing says.

Records at the Department of Buildings show that an application to combine the three lots into one zoned area was disapproved in July, though the listing also notes that “plans have been submitted for approval.”

So as more and more tall apartment buildings go up along 4th Avenue, is the demolition of existing low-rise buildings like these inevitable?