Brookfield Property Partners plans to make 30 percent of its massive South Bronx development affordable housing.
The company officially closed on its $165 million purchase of 2401 Third Avenue and 101 Lincoln Avenue from Somerset Partners and the Chetrit Group on Wednesday, according to representatives for Brookfield and Somerset. The parcels span 189,000 square feet of land in Mott Haven, and Brookfield will build about 1,300 residential units on the site across seven buildings.
Brookfield plans to construct 462,000 gross square feet of development at 2401 Third Avenue, with the planning and design taking place over the next nine to 12 months. The company intends to break ground on the site during the second quarter of 2019 and open the building in 2021’s third quarter.
Doug Harmon and Adam Doneger of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the deal.
At 101 Lincoln Avenue, Brookfield is planning 950,000 gross square feet of development and expecting to start construction late next year.
The project will also include a waterfront park and promenade spanning 850 linear feet.
Chetrit and Somerset spent $58 million to acquire the two South Bronx sites, but news broke this spring that they would be selling them to Brookfield. The deal was initially expected to close in June.
The number of units and buildings is the same as Somerset and Chetrit had planned, but those companies had planned to make the entirely project market-rate.
Brookfield has been on a massive buying spree lately and recently clocked in at No. 8 on The Real Deal’s list of largest property owners throughout New York with about 17.5 million square feet of space. The company is partnering with the Park Tower Group at Greenpoint Landing in Brooklyn and struck a deal with Kushner Companies at 666 Fifth Avenue for a 99-year lease with an option to buy. This is the company’s first project in the Bronx.
Ben Brown, Brookfield’s executive vice president, described Mott Haven in a statement as “a fantastic community” and said this project was “the latest example of our growth in the multifamily sector.”