The most expensive site in the Bronx gets a name and new renderings

Last fall, Brookfield Properties bought two sites in Mott Haven for $165 million—the most expensive transaction on record for development in the Bronx—from Somerset Partners and Chetrit Group. On Thursday, the developers revealed a $950 million plan for a 4.3-acre mixed-use development that will bring more than 1,350 apartments to the South Bronx neighborhood, of which 30 percent will be affordable. Branded as Bankside, the project will also include a public waterfront park and promenade, as well as ground-floor retail and community facility spaces.

Bankside will span across two parcels located on each side of the Third Avenue Bridge along the Harlem River, at 2401 Third Avenue and 101 Lincoln Avenue. Construction is already underway and will take place in two phases. The work will start with building 450 apartments at 2401 Third Avenue, which is expected to open by the end of 2021.

“Mott Haven is a special neighborhood, and we think Bankside will be a great addition, bringing much-needed housing, a new public waterfront park and esplanade, and hundreds of construction jobs, many of which will be filled with Bronx residents through our local hiring program,” Ric Clark, the chairman of Brookfield, said in a statement.

Designed by Hill West Architects, the development features seven towers that will be interconnected across the two parcels. Each parcel will feature distinct façade types, one primarily masonry and the other glass and metal.

Drawing on the palette of the surrounding area, the primary materials for the development will be weathered masonry and brick, dark metal accents, and raw concrete.

The public waterfront park and esplanade on the Harlem River is designed by MPFP and will encompass more than 34,000 square feet. Landscaped with native plantings and offering a variety of custom seating, the waterfront landscape intends to create “unique pockets in which the community can gather in a garden environment with riverfront views,” as a recent press release explains.

The development will also include 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail with a local focus, including a tech-based educational and community center run by non-profit Project Destined.

As 6sqft reported last year, the land was initially acquired by Somerset and Chetrit in 2014 and 2015 for $58 million. The group tapped Hill West Architects to design a development across the two parcels and had some of the construction underway when they decided to sell the massive site in April.

RELATED:

• The most expensive development site in the Bronx will be 30 percent affordable
• $165M sale of South Bronx waterfront site is the borough’s priciest development deal ever
• More renderings, details released for massive South Bronx waterfront development

Renderings courtesy of ArX Solutions