Association of New York Catholic Homes in contract to pay $17M for 251-unit Tremont dev site

The Association of New York Catholic Homes through the entity St. Joseph Apartments LLC is deepening its development footprint in the Bronx, signing a contract to pay $17 million for 1943-1951 Bathgate Avenue, a vacant development site in Tremont, the Bronx, from a fellow Catholic entity.

The church, through St. Joseph Catholic Church, filed plans in 2022 under job number 220212918, for a 251-unit, 190,303-square-foot residential building. The city has not yet permitted those plans, but they have been marked as “approved.” ZD1-484 East 178th Street

The seller is the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Simon Stock and Saint Joseph. The buyer of record, a partnership between the Bathgate 178th Housing Development Fund Corporation and St. Joseph Apartments LLC, operates under the umbrella of the Association of New York Catholic Funds, which itself is headquartered at the Archdiocese of New York’s headquarters at 488 Madison Avenue.

The deal, which was filed in unassigned New York County court records on April 19, 2026, was signed by Rev. Michael Kissane for the parish and Russell Lang for the housing entities.

Case LINK

This is not the first time the developer bought a site from the Catholic Church in the Bronx. Roman Catholic Church of St. Philip Neri sold 3054 Villa Avenue for $11.6 million to Association of New York Catholic Homes on July 30, 2020.

This transaction represents a strategic “in-house” transfer of land between two distinct religious affiliates. While the seller is a specific New York religious corporation representing the local parish, the buyer is a specialized not-for-profit development arm tasked with expanding the Church’s affordable housing portfolio.

This ecclesiastical oversight ensures that the divestment of the parish’s land serves the broader regional goals of the Archdiocese while maintaining strict adherence to Catholic moral teachings.The $17 million purchase price for the vacant land—which also spans 484 East 178th Street and 1940/1948 Washington Avenue—is contingent upon the Association securing government funding through the New York State Housing Finance Agency.

To protect the spiritual integrity of the site post-sale, the agreement includes permanent restrictive covenants that will be embedded in the deed. These provisions strictly forbid the property from ever being used for procedures or counseling related to abortion, euthanasia, or birth control, ensuring that even as the land transitions to a housing development, it remains consistent with the seller’s religious identity. With a primary tax designation of Block 3043, Lot 10, the site offers a massive rectangular canvas for the Association’s next Bronx project. The closing is expected to occur by mid-summer 2026, or shortly after the Vatican and local courts provide the necessary green light for this high-stakes transfer of sacred real estate.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 108 feet and is 185 feet deep with a total lot size of 22,381 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R7D which allows for up to 4.2 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $2.1 million.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received one DOB violation and $1,500 in OATH penalties in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Tremont, The bulk, or 41 percent of the 8.6 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 20 percent of the space. In sales, Tremont has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $84.7 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 17th highest in Bronx. For development, Tremont has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 15th highest in Bronx. It had 863,817 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 10 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of six of the 20 commercial properties representing 98,453 square feet of the 185,386 square feet. The largest owner is Allied Realty & Development, followed by Community Access and then Foxy Management. On the tax block, there were two new building construction projects totaling 405,277 square feet. The largest is a 287-unit, 220,765 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by St. Joseph Catholic Church and filed by Fr. Mike Kissane with plans filed November 2, 2022 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 213-unit, 184,512 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Mega Contracting Group and filed by Emanuel Kokinakis with plans filed October 10, 2023 and permitted December 16, 2025.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 1947 Bathgate Avenue, PincusCo identified five commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those five items, one was in new building development. It was a new building permit issued on July 15, 2025 for a 16,309-square-foot 56 building at 490 East Tremont Avenue. One of those five items was a sale which Zeta Charter Schools bought the 9,800-square-foot industrial (Z9) on 4261 3rd Avenue and one other property for $7.2 million from Ronald Gilbert on June 4, 2024. Of those five items, three were loans above $5 million totaling $209.5 million. The most recent of the three was Zeta Charter Schools in which borrowed $19 million from Bank of New York Mellon trustee secured by the zero-square-foot industrial (G7) on 4259 3rd Avenue on January 8, 2026.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.