Image Credit: NYC HPD

The new building will provide supportive services and amenities to tenants. On April 16, 2019, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Services for the Underserved, and other development partners announced the opening of 1434 Undercliff Avenue, in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx . The new development will serve as supportive housing for formerly homeless and low-income New Yorkers. (read more…)

Image Credit: NYCHA.

The lead paint testing initiative comes from the City’s plans to eliminate childhood lead exposure and improve quality of living in public housing. On March 15, 2019, the New York City Housing Authority announced that it will be accelerating its new lead-based paint testing plan at the Bronx River Houses located in the Soundview section of the Bronx. The Bronx River Houses is one of the first set of developments NYCHA will begin testing in April, along with Harlem River and Williamsburg Houses. The lead paint testing initiative is part of the City’s LeadFreeNYC plan, a plan to eliminate childhood lead exposure. For CityLand’s prior coverage of LeadFreeNYC, click here.

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NYC HPD

New cooperative building will give first time home buyers affordable opportunity to own their home. On February 28, 2018, the Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) announced plans to develop a 100 percent affordable seven-story co-op building in the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx. The building, named Sydney House, is the first affordable housing development to be financed under the HPD’s Open Door program. (read more…)

Council member Vanessa Gibson and Chair Francisco Moya. Image Credit: New York City Council.

Amidst opposition from community members and organizations, the Jerome Avenue Rezoning plan had its day at the City Council. On February 7, 2018, the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on the application by the Department of City Planning and Department of Parks and Recreation for a zoning text amendment, zoning map amendment, and City Map amendment to de-map a portion of Corporal Fischer Place and to map new parkland along Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. The application was submitted in conjunction with several related actions to facilitate land use modifications associated with the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan (Plan). The Plan’s aim is to foster a vibrant mix of residential, commercial, and community facility uses along the two-mile Jerome Avenue corridor in Bronx Community Boards 4, 5, and 7 in the southwest Bronx. (read more…)

Morris Park Avenue. Image credit: GoogleMaps

Proposal encompasses 188 businesses in a 1.06 mile stretch of Morris Park Avenue in the Bronx. On August 9, 2017, the City Planning Commission approved the Department of Small Business Services’ plan to create the Morris Park Business Improvement District in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx. The BID would consist of 188 properties along both sides of Morris Park Avenue, bounded by Unionport Road to the west and Williamsbridge Road to the east. The BID area is a low-density, pedestrian-friendly commercial corridor. The street is zoned with C1 and C2 commercial overlays which allows for restaurants, boutiques and specialized retails; health, legal, real estate and financial institutions; and beauty, hair and nail salons. (read more…)

Rendering of proposed buildings at 1125 Whitlock Avenue as designed by Langan Engineering. Image credit: DCP

The City Council approved the construction of 474 low-income affordable units in Longwood, Bronx. On July 20, 2017, the New York City Council voted 46-0 to approve the construction of two new 14-story mixed-use buildings at the intersection of Whitlock Avenue and east 165th Street in the Bronx’s Longwood neighborhood. The applicant, Ader Group, LLC, requested a zoning map amendment to change the project area from an M1-1 zoning district to an R8A/C2-4 zoning district, and a zoning text amendment to designate the project as a Mandatory Inclusionary Housing area. The development site is a 61,586-square-foot lot bounded on the east by Whitlock Avenue, on the south by Aldus Street, fronting Longfellow Avenue and on the north by East 165th Street. The site is currently occupied by auto repair shops, storage facilities, and a light industrial plastics facility. The previous zoning, M1-1, allowed for a maximum floor area ratio or 1.0 for both commercial and manufacturing uses, and 2,4 for community uses. Residential uses were not permitted in the zoning district. (read more…)