Peter Fine to build 333 units in the Bronx

Jerome Avenue rezoning has prompted flurry of affordable projects

A photo illustration of Peter Fine and 1959 Jerome Avenue (Getty, Google Maps)
A photo illustration of Peter Fine and 1959 Jerome Avenue (Getty, Google Maps)

Put another one on the whiteboard for Peter Fine.

The developer plans to build a 15-story multifamily building with 333 units at 1959 Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, replacing a garage and auto body shop.

The 285,000-square-foot building will have 29,000 square feet of commercial space and a 43,000-square-foot community facility, according to Department of Building filings.

Fine’s Atlantic Development Group bought the parcel for $13.9 million on an acutely angled corner with Tremont Avenue in April 2021. That works out to about $49 per built square foot. The 37,000-square-foot site is among several transit-oriented infill projects along Jerome Avenue, which has an elevated subway line.

The New York City Council approved the de Blasio administration’s rezoning of the area in 2018, projecting it would bring 4,600 new apartments. Fine’s more recent projects have included a charter school in Inwood and market rate apartments in Mott Haven, he told The Real Deal.

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Last summer, rentals opened at a 164-unit building in East Harlem, where Fine bought an assemblage for the project in 2018. The land, including a zoning bonus for including affordable units, cost $220 per built square foot. Fine landed a $70 million construction loan in 2020.

Two-bedroom units start at $4,400, according to the building’s website; the lottery for the affordable units is closed.

Fine’s career with Atlantic Development, which he started with Marc Altheim in 1995, has focused on the construction of affordable apartments. The company has built some 12,000 units in more than 100 buildings.

His first development project in the city was also in the Bronx. “It was $75,000,” Fine reminisced last year, “and we built a 72-unit building.”

Fine has also dabbled in entertainment as a producer for Broadway productions, including Lin Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights.”

Fine also builds luxury homes on spec in Miami, including one that sold to billionaire hedge fund manager Dan Loeb in 2021 for $20 million.

A representative for Fine did not immediately return a request for comment.