The South Bronx is suddenly booming with new construction. Most of the action is happening along the waterfront in Mott Haven and Port Morris, but investors looking for cheaper properties have started paying attention to neighborhoods below the typical real estate radar, like Highbridge.
YIMBY revealed renderings and reported on new building applications last year for La Central, a five-building, 992-unit mixed-use development planned on an assemblage of vacant lots at 430 Westchester Avenue, in the South Bronx’s Melrose section. The project required approval via the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). That process was nearly completed on Wednesday, when the City Council voted to approve the proposal, the Daily News reported. Mayor Bill de Blasio still has to sign off on it. Assuming his honor does, construction would be carried out in two phases, with the first phase to be completed in 2018 and the second in 2019. The buildings will range from eight to 25 stories and all 992 apartments will be designated as affordable or supportive housing. The majority will rent at below-market rates through the affordable housing lottery, although 160 will be supportive units. Over 45,000 square feet of retail is planned, as well as 30,000 square feet of community facilities.
An anonymous Brooklyn-based LLC has filed applications for two four-story, 10-unit residential buildings at 1030-1032 Revered James A. Polite Avenue, in Longwood. The structures will measure 7,590 square feet and 8,910 square feet, respectively. Across both, the residential units should average 663 square feet apiece, indicative of rental apartments. There will be an outdoor recreational space behind each building. Mohammad R. Badaly’s Mount Vernon, N.Y.-based Badaly Architects is the architect of record. The 50-foot-wide plot is currently occupied by a two-and-a-half-story house. Demolition permits were filed earlier this month. The Intervale Avenue stop on the 2 and 5 trains is two blocks away.
Construction is up to the fourth floor on the planned 13-story, 157-unit residential building being developed at 530 Exterior Street, located on the western end of Mott Haven. The construction progress can be seen thanks to photos posted to the YIMBY Forums. The latest building permits indicate the project will eventually rise 120 feet above street level and measure 151,107 square feet. All of the project’s residential units will rent at below-market rates through the affordable housing lottery. They will average 910 square feet apiece and will be accommodated by amenities including, but not limited to, a fitness center, an outdoor recreational area behind the building, 50 off-street parking spaces, and laundry facilities. Monadnock Construction is the developer and Dattner Architects is behind the design. Completion is expected in early 2018.
New construction is coming to the rather desolate area near rail yards in eastern Mott Haven, in the South Bronx. Prolific affordable builder Radson Development is planning a 13-story affordable apartment building at 869 East 147th Street, between Timson and Austin places.
