The Bronx Metro-North rezoning is expected to create 7,500 units over the next 10 years.
The rezoning of 46 blocks in the Bronx aims to encourage housing construction around four planned Metro-North stations for Co-op City, Hunts Point, Morris Park and Parkchester/Van Nest.
During the negotiations over reviving the property tax break 421a, the New York City District Council of Carpenters wanted the Bronx and other areas of the city to be subject to new construction wage requirements. Ultimately, the most stringent wage requirements under the new program, 485x, were only applied to large projects in parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.
In the rezoning area, only projects larger than 100 units will be subject to a wage and benefit floor of $40 per hour. That requirement applies citywide to projects receiving 485x.
The Bronx rezoning may serve as an interesting comparison for how 485x fares in parts of the city that face the higher wage requirements. Some industry folks have warned that developers may build smaller projects to avoid the higher wages (which kick in for projects with 150 or more units). It is still too early to tell.
The City Council’s Land Use Committee approved the rezoning on Tuesday, after the Adams administration committed nearly $500 million for improvements to surrounding neighborhoods. That includes $96 million to renovate local parks and playgrounds, as well as $11.5 million to upgrade schools and improve sewers to address flooding. The Council also secured a commitment to create up to 500 units for homeownership opportunities through the rezoning, according to a press release.
The proposal now goes back to the City Planning Commission and then to the City Council for a full vote.
What we’re thinking about: Who is reaching a long-term masterlease with Vornado Realty Trust at 770 Broadway? Did Steve Roth tease this deal with minimal details to drive us crazy? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, whom Vice President Kamala Harris tapped to be her running mate, named a section of highway in his state after the late homegrown star Prince, according to the New York Times. Walz signed legislation in purple ink to rename part of Highway 5 “Prince Rogers Nelson Memorial Highway.”
Elsewhere in New York…
— A new report by City Comptroller Brad Lander found that the city paid DocGo, hired to operate migrant shelters, nearly $1.7 million for the equivalent of nearly 10,000 nights of unused hotel rooms during the first two months of its contract, Gothamist reports. The audit also found that the city overpaid DocGo $2 million for security services. City officials responded that oversight issues identified in the report were addressed long ago. “The comptroller can nitpick the first two months of an emergency contract more than a year after the fact and long after new safeguards were put in place, but he cannot claim to have saved a single migrant family from sleeping on the streets,” a spokesperson for the mayor told the website. Lander is challenging the mayor in the Democratic primary next year.
— The city has more than 1 million square feet of vacant pharmacy space, the New York Times reports. Manhattan has 64 vacant big-box pharmacies, the most of any of the boroughs. More than 200 pharmacies in the city have closed since the first quarter of 2020 (before the pandemic), and more than half of those were still closed as of last month, according to mapping company LiveXYZ. Changes to zoning proposed under the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity text amendment could allow these spaces to be converted to new uses, such as breweries or laser tag facilities.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Tuesday was $13.3 million for a co-op unit at 117 East 72nd Street on the Upper East Side. Jill Roosevelt of Brown Harris Stevens had the listing.
Commercial: The largest commercial sale of the day was $23 million for an 11,500-square-foot house of worship at 181 Avenue D/733 East 12th Street in the East Village.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $6.8 million for an 1,862-square-foot condo unit at 25 Columbus Circle on the Upper West Side. Kristen Suh of the Corcoran Group has the listing. — Matthew Elo