With most approved residential units in NYC, the Bronx building boom continues
Via Nelson Mejia Jr. on Flickr
Out of the 20 New York City neighborhoods with the most residential units approved within the past year, seven of them are in the Bronx, more than any other borough. According to a new report from Localize.city, a group that analyzes data related to housing, 13 percent of all approved apartments between 2010 and 2015 were in the Bronx. In the first half of 2018, the Bronx had 27 percent of the city’s share of approved new units. While a majority of new buildings in the borough are affordable, increasing land prices could mean more market-rate projects are on the horizon, the New York Times reported.
Top 20 neighborhoods for authorized permits in past 12 months via Localize
“The Bronx is rising,” Israel Schwartz, a Localize.city data scientist said. “Overall, neighborhoods in the Bronx are seeing a greater share of large-scale development than in previous years.”
The building boom is especially prevalent along the South Bronx waterfront. The neighborhood of Melrose ranked third, just under Long Island City and East New York, for the most authorized permits over the last 12 months (between July 1 of last year and July 2018) with 1,027 units.
Localize cites the massive affordable development La Central as driving up the number of units. Designed by FXCollaborative, the multi-building project will bring nearly 1,000 units of affordable housing to the site, located next to the Bronx Zoo, a YMCA and a rooftop farm.
And a $165 million deal, the most expensive transaction for a private development in the Bronx, closed this month in the South Bronx neighborhood of Mott Haven. The project could bring as many as 1,300 new rentals to the waterfront. As 6sqft reported last week, 30 percent of the units will be affordable.
According to the report, about 13 percent of the city’s approved residential units between 2010 and 2015 were in the Bronx. In 2016, the percentage of approved units jumped to 23 percent and then 24 percent in 2017. Now in the first half of 2018, the Bronx had 27 percent of the city’s approved new units.
New transit options in the area could help spur more development. In August, a new ferry route launched between the South Bronx and Wall Street, with the entire trip taking just 45 minutes. And the city is looking to expand Metro-North service to Hunts Point, Parkchester/Van Nest, Morris Park, and Co-op City.
Critics wary of new development are concerned that even the affordable units will still be too expensive for locals. The Bronx is home to the city’s lowest income households, with a median income of $37,525. Manhattan has a median income of $77,559, the Times learned.
The Jerome Avenue corridor, which was recently rezoned to bring 4,000 new affordable rentals along 90 blocks, is considered the poorest congressional district in the United States. The area’s median household income sits just over $29,200.
Fitzroy Christian, a member of Community Action for Safe Apartments, told the Times that many current residents will not qualify for the apartments as they are designated for those who earn higher salaries. “Not only is it inadequate, it’s not aimed at the people who live here now,” Christian said.
The report from Localize found that Long Island City ranks first for the largest number of authorized units. In the Queens neighborhood, the number of approved units in the first half of the year, 1,060, will exceed the number of units authorized in the previous two years combined (851).
In East New York, the second largest number of approved new units in the city, the 2016 rezoning helped spur rapid development in the Brooklyn neighborhood. A Dattner Architects-designed mixed-use development will bring over 1,100 fully-affordable units across three buildings. Dubbed “Atlantic Chestnut,” the development will be completed in phases, with the first scheduled to wrap up in 2020.
Read the full report from Localize.city here.
[Via NY Times]
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