A Bronx-based development firm has its sights on a self-storage building in Mott Haven for its next affordable housing project.
Joshua Weissman’s JCAL Development is planning to build a 13-story, 218,000-square-foot mixed-use project at 261 Walton Avenue in the Bronx, according to building permits filed this week. The development would consist of 195 units, of which at least two-thirds would be affordable, and about 19,000 square feet of retail.
JCAL expects to close with city officials on the project next year, Weissman said. The project has received approval from local council member Diana Ayala and Community Board 1 in the Bronx.
The New York City Housing Partnership acquired the site in July for an undisclosed amount, city property records show. The site has already been rezoned for the project, Weissman said.
The property consists of a 43,800-square-foot self-storage facility that was constructed in 1931. New York Yimby reported demolition permits were filed in September to take down the six-story building.
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JCAL’s plans would be the firm’s latest addition to its affordable housing portfolio. The company’s other developments include a 15-story, 75-unit affordable housing project at 2395 Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem and a six-floor, 58-unit project at 950 Summit Avenue in Highbridge.
JCAL in June received approval to develop a six-story, 23-unit affordable housing project at 1312-1314 Chisolm Street in Morrisania, the Bronx Times reported.
However, not every project JCAL has brought forward has been met with a greenlight. The Time reported Community Board 12 in the Bronx rejected a proposal from the firm in February for a 10-story, 150-unit affordable housing development at 4541 Furman Avenue in Wakefield due to parking concerns.
Founded in 2012, JCAL has primarily focused on the Bronx, a borough it says it has believed in for decades.
“Despite some of the stigmatism way back in the day about it being unsafe and things like that, we always kind of knew it was a real gem,” JCAL’s Bill Bollinger told The Real Deal in 2018.