HPD proposes large complex for South Bronx

Plan for seven buildings includes Boricua College campus, 679 residential units and over 36,000 sq.ft. of retail. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development proposed to amend the Melrose Commons Urban Renewal Area Plan in the Bronx to facilitate a large, seven building, mixed-use, residential and commercial complex called Boricua Village to be constructed on a 4.2-acre lot in the northeast corner of Melrose Commons.

HPD’s plan called for 18 changes to the existing Melrose … <Read More>


Court of Appeals upholds restrictive covenant

Language in City approval binds future owners. After foreclosure, the City sold 330 West 86 Street for $340,000 to the tenants under UDAAP, to allow an expedited sale. The deed required the tenants to remove all code violations. Instead, the tenants sold the property for between $1 to $2.25 million. The new owner planned to demolish the building and construct a 15-story residential building. The adjacent co-op sued to stop demolition. A lower court enjoined … <Read More>


HPD pushes through 517 affordable housing units

Manhattan, Bronx and Brooklyn housing projects approved; sent to Council. On March 28 and April 11, 2007, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development obtained Planning Commission approval for eight affordable housing projects, totaling 517 units, to be developed in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx.

Two of the Bronx projects, including the 50-unit Fox Leggett Cooperative Apartments and the 162- unit Grant Avenue Cooperative Apartments, provide ownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income families. Both of … <Read More>


City’s approval ruled not binding on future owners

Five-story row house at 330 West 86th Street to be demolished. Photo: Kevin Schultz.

Restrictions in deed and Council’s approval do not restrict future owners. The City foreclosed on a deteriorated five-story row house at 330 West 86th Street between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive. The City, through HPD, sought to designate the lot as a UDAAP, an Urban Development Action Area Project, to allow for a quick sale without an auction or bidding … <Read More>


Odyssey House facility approved

Facility to provide housing for low-income mentally ill. City Council approved the Planning Commission’s resolution adopted on September 8, 2004, allowing the construction of a six-story building with 50 units for low-income persons with mental illnesses. The Council’s action authorized the designation of an Urban Development Action Area and the transfer of six properties of City-owned land.

The project site, which is to be developed under the New York State office of Mental Health, is … <Read More>


388-foot West Street residential tower approved

Developer addresses noise concerns for construction near downtown elementary school. An 815,000- square-foot residential/retail project, including a 388-foot tower to front West Street in lower Manhattan, obtained City Council approval on September 28, 2005.

The mixed-use project, to be constructed on a site bounded by West, Warren, Greenwich and Murray Streets, required special permits to vary height, setback, and rear yard requirements, and to construct a 400-space parking garage. 2 CityLand 118 (Sept. 15, 2005).… <Read More>