The southeastern Bronx neighborhood of Hunts Point is physically isolated, transit-starved, and sees very little new construction. So when a building owner there files plans to expand a single-story storefront into a four-story residential building, it’s noteworthy.
Developer Solomon Khafif hopes to more than double the square footage of 862 Hunts Point Avenue. The 6,250-square-foot commercial building would grow to 14,898 square feet and gain 10 apartments. Those 10 apartments would be divided across 9,253 square feet, for nicely sized average units of 953 square feet. The roof line would rise from 15 to 51 feet.
The ground floor will keep remain a grocery store, and it will occupy 5,642 square feet. A fire ripped through the store, a Food Dynasty, late one night last year, and the roof collapsed, according to Pix11.
The expansion allows the owner to max out the property’s development potential and bring more housing to one of New York City’s most underserved neighborhoods. Fortunately, this lot between Gilbert Place and Seneca Avenue is located in a relatively accessible part of Hunts Point. The 6 train is only a few blocks away at Hunts Point Avenue, on the other side of the Bruckner Expressway.
Rodrigo Torres, of Great Neck-based Insight Studio Architecture, applied for the permit.
The 6,250-square-foot lot last changed hands for just $490,000 in 2004, or roughly $32 for each square foot that could be built there.
The last residential project YIMBY saw in Hunts Point was two residential buildings at 627-629 Faile Street, about three blocks south of here.
Most of Hunts Point is still zoned exclusively for manufacturing or commercial uses, but a handful of residential blocks sit at the neighborhood’s northern edge. The area was rezoned in 2008, but the new zoning only broadened the range of industrial uses allowed in the “buffer area” closest to the residential part of Hunts Point.
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Hunts Point and Red Hook share similar traits (minus the gentrification in Red Hook). I actually think the townhouses in Hunts Point are nicer
The residential section of Hunts Point is a reasonable walk to the 6 train at Hunts Point Ave/Bruckner Blvd.
This building should have been taller than 4 stories.