The design of Durst Fetner's unusual pyramid-shaped apartment building on far West 57th Street has been celebrated in architecture schools and design publications the world over. All the locals really care about, though, is the affordable housing in the 750-unit project at 625 W. 57th St., and that dispute is holding up the project from final approval at the City Council. On Tuesday, the council's zoning and franchise subcommittee was set to vote on the project, which rises like a shiny white ziggurat from a site near the Hudson River, but the public meeting was delayed until Thursday because no agreement has yet been reached on the affordable housing component of the 32-story building. Currently, 150 of the units will be reserved for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers as part of the city's 80/20 program, where developers receive tax abatements in exchange for setting aside units as affordable within their building. The catch is, those units would remain affordable for only 35 years. Councilwoman Gale Brewer and the community board have both called for permanent affordability on the project, arguing the Hell's Kitchen community is becoming the latest neighborhood where middle class New Yorkers can hardly afford to live. Durst Fetner counters that because the firm does not own the land, but instead has a land lease for 99 years on the property between 56th and 57th streets and 11th Avenue and the West Side Highway, they cannot agree to a deal offering permanent affordability. In an effort to win over Ms. Brewer, Durst Fetner has offered to add 20 more units of affordable housing to the pot, bringing the number up to 170 units. This would be achieved by redeveloping a self-storage building Durst Fetner owns on the corner of 57th Street and 11th Avenue into a 100 unit apartment block, again with a mix of affordable and market-rate units. "We increased the number of affordable units in the project to up to 170 for at least 35 years," Jordan Barowitz, a spokesman for Durst, told Crain's . "That's a considerable number of desperately needed affordable apartments." The offer has yet to sway Ms. Brewer. "The issue is real affordable housing," Jesse Bodine, a spokesman for Ms. Brewer, said. "Nobody has a real issue with the design. It's the affordable housing. They always say 'No, no, no, no, no' to permanent affordability to the end, and the community won't stand for it." Mr. Bodine also lamented the fact that the negotiations did not take place until the last minute, and that Durst Fetner would stand to benefit from building a second tower with 80 new market rate units inside. "It's not real unless they pay someone to draw it," he said. "Then we know what we're talking about." Mr. Barowitz believes it is a generous offer. "There's no obligation on the site to do anything, but we're committing to do 20 affordable units regardless of 80/20," he said, meaning that even if the project does not qualify for the lucrative tax program, the developers would build the affordable units regardless. Negotiations are ongoing, according to Jamie McShane, a spokesman for Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is refereeing the discussions. If no deal can be reached today, the vote will be pushed off until next week, but the final deadline for the public review process is Feb. 6.