Arden Group is planning to turn an Inwood parking garage into a large residential building as developers rush to capitalize on a major rezoning there.
The Philadelphia-based developer filed plans with the city for a 20-story, mixed-use building spanning 351,000 square feet with 222 residential units at 4650 Broadway Avenue. The residential component will likely be rentals.
In June, Arden filed plans for demolition of the parking garage structure. Arden, which was founded in 1989 by Craig Spencer, who remains the CEO, tapped Handel Architects to design the new development.
The builder had purchased the property in 2019 from Abraham Fructhandler’s FBE Limited for $54 million.
The company was able to raise $18.5 million in equity through its Opportunity Zone fund, according to the Commercial Observer.
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Arden also scored a $44 million loan from Scale Lending, an arm of Slate Property Group and Carlyle Group, in 2019.
FBE had purchased the site for $26 million in April 2018. A year later, Eli Karp’s Hello Living appeared to reach a deal to buy the property for $55 million, aiming to build 272 residential units. Karp planned to name the building “Hello Broadway.” But Karp could not close on the deal and a partnership between Karp and Arden dissolved.
In fact, the developers sued each other. Arden alleged it had to end the partnership with Hello Living when their lender backed out of the original deal amid concerns over Hello Living’s legal entanglements.
But Karp alleged Arden owed millions in damages for backing out. He also alleged Arden used Hello Living’s $2 million deposit to close on the site itself. Both lawsuits were withdrawn in January 2020.
Inwood was rezoned in August 2018, with the goal of bringing 5,000 new units of housing to the neighborhood. The rezoning was delayed for years by activists’ lawsuits, but the de Blasio administration prevailed and builders are moving forward with their projects.
Under the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning law, at least 25 percent of the residential units built in the rezoned area must be income-restricted.