Treetop Development to spend $160M building two rentals in the South Bronx

Adam Mermelstein’s Treetop Development is going to be dropping serious dough on its big rental bet in the South Bronx — $160 million.

The project will feature two 12-story rental buildings in the Mott Haven neighborhood that will collectively span 360,000 square feet, Crain’s reported.

“I look at this area as equivalent to Williamsburg 20 years ago,” Mermelstein told Crain’s. “It has subway access, and because it has been so industrial, you can build from a fresh slate.”

Mermelstein said the Treetop will not start on the project until the end of 2017, in the hope the 421a tax abatement will be available by then.

The firm spent $20.6 million assembling the four sites for the development, which features three contiguous properties on the West side of Gerard Avenue between East 144th Street and East 146th Street.The Fourth Parcel Is Across The Street at the corner of East 144th Street.

The building on the west side of the street will span 260,000 with ground floor retail space, and the rental across the street will total approximately 100,000 square feet.

The firm is just one of several developers setting their sights on the South Bronx.

Major players have begun to invest heavily in the South Bronx, where land is available for a fraction of Manhattan. Related Companies made the biggest Bronx portfolio deal of 2015, spending $112.5 million to acquire 20 buildings throughout the borough. And new development is also going up. The Chetrit Group and Somerset Partners will soon be breaking ground on their 1300-unit residential project on the Mott Haven waterfront. Earlier this month, Azimuth Development Group in partnership with the Upper Manhattan Development Corp. filed plans to build 275 rental units across three buildings in Soundview.

Last month, Treetop picked up a pair of adjacent six-story rental buildings in East Flatbush for $25 million. [Crain’s] — Miriam Hall