Build, baby, build: Bronx construction starts again expected to surpass $2B

Number of new residential units expected to top 10-year high

Carlo Scissura and a rendering of 443 East 162nd Street (Credit: Danois Architects and WXY)
Carlo Scissura and a rendering of 443 East 162nd Street (Credit: Danois Architects and WXY)

Construction starts in the Bronx in 2017 are expected to exceed $2 billion for the third year in a row thanks to a healthy pipeline of housing development.

The New York Building Congress estimates that roughly $2.3 billion worth of projects will have gotten underway this year, the Commercial Observer reported. That’s roughly the same figure as 2016 and slightly above 2015’s total of $2.2 billion.

“The Bronx is experiencing positive momentum and benefiting from continued strong investment from both the public and private sectors,” Building Congress president and CEO Carlo Scissura said in a statement. “With the value of annual construction starts more than doubling since the beginning of this decade, it’s obvious that the development community now views the Bronx in a whole new light. And I would be surprised if that percentage doesn’t continue to rise in the coming years.”

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Through the first nine months of the year, projects that started in the Bronx were worth a total of $1.7 billion, according to the Building Congress’ analysis. Housing made up the largest slice of the pie at 53 percent, followed by 20 percent for public works, 15 percent institutions such as schools and health care facilities and 11 percent for commercial properties.

The priciest developments for the year as of September was the $232 million project to replace the Unionport Bridge and a $133 million, 305-unit multifamily building at 443 East 162nd Street in Melrose being developed by BFC Partners, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corp.

The Bronx registered 3,190 new residential units begin construction through the first three quarters of 2017, and is on track for the full year to surpass 2015’s total of 4,240 units, the most in the past decade. [CO]Rich Bockmann