By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Smokers need not apply to a new 18-story apartment building in East Harlem, a luxury rental property that is the first in the city to include a non-smoking clause for all of its tenants' leases.
All 298 units in the building will be smoke-free, and renters will be prohibited from smoking on the sidewalks outside the properties as well.
The building, a Kenbar Management property which sits at 1510 Lexington Ave betwen 97 and 98th streets, will open in December.
"In our years of experience as developers and owners of New York City apartment buildings, we've seen a growing demand for a healthier lifestyle at home as well as in the workplace," Neal Sigety, a partner with Kenbar, said in a press release.
"We're responding to a trend we see all around us."
In exchange for not smoking, renters in the building will have access to a garden, concierge services, a valet-parking garage, garden and exercise room. The base rental for a unit in the building begins at $2250.
The rules come as another city developer, Related Companies, issued a smoking ban for its downtown properties in November, reported the New York Times.
Existing renters on the Related Companies property were not included in the ban.
The first developer in the city to ban smoking for new leaseholders, Pan Am Rentals, outlawed smoking on all of its properties, excluding existing tenants, in May.
