By:  Hellen Zaboulani

A new residential project is on its way to Mott Haven, an up-and-coming South Bronx neighborhood.

As reported by Crain’s NY, developer Anshel Fridman recently filed plans for a 7-story, 70-foot-tall building with the city’s Department of Buildings.  If approved, the site at 91 Bruckner Blvd., near the Willis Avenue Bridge, would be constructed into a 75,000-square-foot, 89-unit apartment building. The project, which would replace the current one-story industrial building at the site, would include 45 parking spots.  S. Wieder Architect has been tapped as the architect on record.  It is still not known if the upcoming residential apartments will be affordable, or market-rate.

Fridman did not reply to a request for comment.

Developers have long eyed the neighborhood for a real estate boom, calling it New York City’s next hot region.  Back in 2006, Barbara Corcoran, founder of The Corcoran Group, a NYC real estate brokerage, had called the neighborhood “the next hottest market”.  Developers have been working to make the words ring true.

As per Crain’s, Brookfield Properties is working on a $950 million project, slated to create roughly 1,350 apartments, 30 percent of which will be set aside as affordable.  The 4.3-acre waterfront project, known as Bankside, is slated to be the most expensive and largest project in the neighborhood.  The $165 million paid for the site in 2018 broke records and is still the most expensive residential real estate transaction in Bronx history.  The project boasts seven towers, a new public waterfront park overlooking the Harlem River, a promenade, and 15,000 square feet of retail space.  Hill West Architects designed the seven 25-story towers.  Apartments are currently being preleased for $2,900 to $7,400.

Another ambitious project, which broke ground in the South Bronx neighborhood in October, is RXR Realty’s 200-unit building at 2413 Third Ave. The 27-story building, which will include 60 affordable units, is slated for completion in 2023. Additionally, Jacob Schwimmer’s JCS Realty is building a 12-story mixed-use project, boasting 447 rental residential units, at 138 Bruckner Blvd.  The project is expected to be complete by the fourth quarter of 2023.

Of course, all the new construction has sparked controversy over gentrification, and complaints from long-time residents and locals who say the neighborhood is changing too fast and crowding out the lower-income populace.  Formerly an industrial and warehouse center, the neighborhood was rezoned in 2009, through the Lower Concourse Rezoning, which made way for the residential developments that are coming to fruition.