The Bronx heats up: Developers digging deeper in Mott Haven and Fordham

RXR, Brookfield and Arian Liton all look to the booming borough

Developers Dig Deeper in the Bronx

A photo illustration of Albanese Organization president Christopher Albanese along with the New York Botanical Garden (left) and 36 Bruckner Boulevard in Mott Haven (right) (Getty, Albanese Organization, LinkedIn, Google Maps)

The Bronx is having a big week on the development front.

Arian Liton filed plans for a 99-unit mixed-use project at 36 Bruckner Boulevard in Mott Haven, Crain’s reported. The plans call for a 10-story, 81,000-square-foot building with retail and community facility space on the ground floor, as well as 20 parking spots.

Liton filed demolition permits for the existing two-story industrial structure earlier this month. The property is vacant, though it once housed a company specializing in building restoration, according to CoStar.

It’s unclear if Liton, who couldn’t be reached for comment by Crain’s, has any other projects in New York City. 

Liton joins good company in trying to strike gold in Mott Haven, the South Bronx’s hottest neighborhood for residential development. RXR and Brookfield are among the significant names to drop anchor as the neighborhood across from the Harlem River booms.

Meanwhile, the Albanese Organization is planning an affordable housing complex on land owned by the New York Botanical Garden in the Fordham neighborhood. Albanese signed a 99-year ground lease for a 43,000-square-foot vacant parcel a block away from the Metro-North Railroad stop, the Commercial Observer reported.

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Albanese paid $15.2 million to NYBG for the lease. The site is adjacent to 2855 Southern Boulevard and comes with 105,000 square feet of residential development rights, though Albanese hasn’t said how many units it plans on delivering.

NYBG acquired the site from Rosehill Housing Management in 2015 for a mere $417,000, according to property records. Rosehill signed an easement with NYBG to allow for utilities to be run on the lot.

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Albanese Organization's president Christopher Albanese (LinkedIn, Illustration by The Real Deal with Getty)
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The botanical garden previously leased part of its property to Douglas Development, which built a senior housing complex at 2856 Webster Avenue.

Based in Garden City, Albanese also has projects in New Jersey and on Long Island, recently breaking ground on a 400-unit development in Syracuse. In 2022, the firm closed on a $70 million purchase of a downtown site in Jersey City, where it’s developing a 670-unit mixed-use project at 286 Coles Street.

Holden Walter-Warner

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