Market-rate development is finally returning to Belmont, a neighborhood just south of Fordham University in the northeastern Bronx. Yesterday, developer Gac Haxhari filed applications for an eight-story market-rate building at 2118 Mapes Avenue, between East 180th and 181st streets, which is two short blocks from Bronx Park.
Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst has become the center of the neighborhood’s construction boom, as developers try to cater to the growing immigrant communities in eastern Queens. And one developer has filed plans for a 10-story residential building with retail and community facilities at 70-40 45th Avenue, just off the major 12-lane artery.
For decades (with a brief break), Manhattan had a diner, complete with outdoor seating and a tiny parking lot, near the edge of Midtown West/Hell’s Kitchen. Last year, we learned that the Market Diner at 572 Eleventh Avenue (at the corner of West 43rd Street) would be replaced by an apartment tower. Now, a photo from our friend Tectonic shows that demolition has begun.
The $34 million renovation and redesign of Fordham Plaza – bound by East 189th Street and East Fordham Road, and Park Avenue and Firefighters Boulevard in the West Bronx – has recently been completed, according to the Architect’s Newspaper. The plaza was designed by Grimshaw Architects and features a café, market canopies, public toilets, vegetation, and seating. It also serves 12 bus lines and is directly above the Fordham station on the Metro-North Railroad. The initiative behind the project was to reduce traffic accidents and to create a more pedestrian-friendly experience. The city’s Department of Design and Construction and Department of Transportation were behind the project.
Within the last few weeks, new details emerged of the planned eight-story, 60-unit mixed-use building being developed at 98-02 Queens Boulevard, in Rego Park, and now DNAinfo has a rendering of the project. As reported previously, the 75,000 square-foot structure will contain rental units that come in one-, two-, and three-bedroom configurations. The apartments will average 657 square feet apiece, and amenities include a gym, an indoor pool, a children’s playground, and bike storage. The entire ground floor will be retail and 7,000 square feet of community facility space, in the form of medical offices, will be located on the level above. Demolition of the existing retail structure is expected in the spring and completion is slated for late 2017. Bahar Corporation is developing and Peter Casini Architect is behind the design.
