Gjek Popaj files plans for 93 units in Fordham Heights

Gjek Popaj submitted a new building construction project for a 93-unit, 60,592 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 299 East Burnside Avenue in Fordham Heights, Bronx. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on July 18, 2025 under job number X01190590. It calls for the construction of an eight-story building. The project is described in the filing as: new 8 story residential building. The architect is Fred Geremia, Architects & Planners.

299 East Burnside Avenue

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold with 3 other properties by Christos Tsetsekas for $4.7 million to Gjek Popaj on February 14, 2025.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations in the last year.

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

The neighborhood

In Fordham Heights, The bulk, or 46 percent of the 16.3 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 35 percent of the space. In sales, Fordham Heights has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $136.2 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 8th highest in Bronx. For development, Fordham Heights has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 6th highest in Bronx. It had 1.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 7 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 17 of the 24 commercial properties representing 297,843 square feet of the 439,266 square feet. The largest owner is Charlie Lezer, followed by Chestnut Holdings Of New York and then Finkelstein Timberger East Real Estate. On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 108,455 square feet. The largest is a 93-unit, 60,592 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Gjek Popaj and filed by Gjek Popaj with plans filed July 18, 2025 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 55-unit, 38,300 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Gabriel Blanco and filed by Gabriel Blanco with plans filed June 24, 2019 and permitted June 23, 2022.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Gjek Popaj owned at least six commercial properties with 73 residential units in New York City with 0.0 square feet and a city-determined market value of $1.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $29 million in debt, with top three lenders as Wells Fargo, Northeast Community Bank, and Suma Federal Credit Union respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 0 percent of the 0.0 square feet of built space are development properties, with industrial properties next occupying 0 percent of the space.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 299 East Burnside Avenue, PincusCo identified four commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those four items, one was in new building development. It was a new building permit issued on March 14, 2024 for a 67,673-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 102 residential units at 2047 Ryer Avenue. One of those four items was a sale which Joel Wieder bought the zero-square-foot, 131-unit rental (D1) on 2047 Ryer Avenue for $5.7 million from Spaxel on August 2, 2023. Of those four items, two were loans above $5 million totaling $54.1 million. The most recent of the two was Joel Wieder in which borrowed $34.8 million from NorthEast Community Bank secured by the zero-square-foot, 131-unit rental (D1) on 2047 Ryer Avenue on April 9, 2024.

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