Part of the rendering of 660 East Fordham Road. Image Credit: NYC CPC.

Commissioners had previous concerns about the impact of the removal of parking spaces on the neighborhood. On February 16, 2022, the City Planning Commission voted to approve a special permit application to waive parking requirements that would allow for the development of an eleven-story mixed use building in the Belmont section of the Bronx. For CityLand’s prior coverage of this application, click here. 

The mixed-use building will have 145 residential units, and 28 units will be reserved for affordable housing at 80 percent area median income. The building will feature a supermarket operated by C-Town on the ground floor through the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program, and 11,500 square feet of community facility space in the cellar for ambulatory medical use. 

The applicant requested a special permit to waive the off-street accessory residential parking requirement, to waive 59 spaces. Forty-seven spaces would still be preserved for the use of an adjacent medical facility under a restrictive declaration, and nine more spaces will be preserved for residential parking. Beyond this waiver, the building can be constructed as-of-right. 

City Planning Commission Chair Dan Garodnick abstained from voting as he was not appointed or present for the initial public hearing on January 5th. Commissioner Orlando Marin voted no, while all the other commissioners voted to approve the application. 

The application will now move on to the City Council. 

By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)