217 Bay 49th Street

Four-Story, Five-Unit Residential Building Planned at 217 Bay 49th Street, Gravesend

An anonymous Chinatown-based LLC has filed applications for a four-story, five-unit residential building at 217 Bay 49th Street, in southern Gravesend. The project will measure 4,800 square feet and its residential units should average 852 square feet apiece. It’s unclear whether the units will be rentals or condominiums. Harry H. Hong’s Chinatown-based H2 Consulting is the applicant of record. The 20-foot-wide, 2,000-square-foot lot is currently occupied by a single-story house. Demolition permits were filed in August. The Bay 50th Street stop on the D train is located three blocks away.


115-06 Myrtle Avenue

Mixed-Use Assemblage Purchased at 115-06 Myrtle Avenue, Richmond Hill

Forest Hills-based Platinum Realty has acquired the two-story commercial building at 115-06 Myrtle Avenue, located on the corner of 115th Street in Richmond Hill, for $3.7 million, Commercial Observer reported. The sale comes after the previous owners began marketing the site, which consists of four parcels, back in November of 2015. The site could accommodate a mixed-use project, with commercial and residential space, of up to 26,524 square feet, as-of-right. A new development could grow to 70,000 square feet if it includes affordable residential units and benefits from the inclusionary housing zoning bonus. The new owner’s plans have not been disclosed. All of the parcels are vacant or have been vacated.




255 East Houston Street

Rezoning Withdrawn for 13-Story, 63-Unit Project, 255 East Houston Street, Lower East Side

Developer Samy Mahfar has withdrawn an application to rezone a stretch of East Houston Street, on the Lower East Side, which would have introduced a commercial overlay for the targeted area, allowing for commercial-retail space to be built at street level, the Lo-Down reported. That means Mahfar’s planned 13-story, 63-unit mixed-use project at 255 East Houston Street won’t have ground-floor retail space. Instead, the developer plans to move forward with an as-of-right project featuring leasable community facility space. It’s unclear if withdrawing from the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) changes the residential portion in any way. Twenty percent of the apartments (13 units) were set to be rented at below-market rates through the affordable housing lottery. Filings at the Buildings Department haven’t been amended since plans were first filed for a 10-story, 53-unit structure. The Stephen B. Jacobs Group is the architect. Demolition has commenced on the existing four-story building.