January new building review: Rabina, Gotham, Naftali file plans

By Atticus O’Brien-Pappalardo

While the total amount of new construction filed for in January was down from December, last month was among the most active months over the past year, with several significant new developments planned.

The five largest plans, which called for over 1.5 million square feet of new construction, accounted for over half of the month’s total. Two of the five largest new developments were in Manhattan, two were in Brooklyn, and one was in the Bronx. All five of the plans were for mixed-use residential buildings, totaling 1,164 dwelling units.

Rabina Properties file the largest plans of the month. On January 4 the developer filed a permit application for construction of an 896-foot tall, 70-story, 98-unit, 452,134-square-foot mixed-use building at 520 Fifth Avenue in Grand Central. Ceruzzi Properties and SMI USA are also part of the development team.

Ceruzzi and SMI were originally planning a mixed-use tower on the property. However, after a series of delays and road blocks, the developers defaulted on a $200 million loan. Rabina Properties was then brought on board to stave off a foreclosure. The partners reached a $205 million deal on July 1, 2019, with Rabina in charge of the development and the original partners taking “a back seat.”

The second largest plans of the month were pre-filed by the Gotham Organization on January 22. The permit application called for construction of a 520-foot tall, 47-story, 453-unit, 428,208-square-foot mixed-use building at 550 10th Avenue in Clinton. Bryan Kelly, president of development at Gotham, filed the plans, which are part of an overall joint project with the Covenant House, a charity group that helps homeless youth.

Handel Architects is the architect for the development, which will have several retail spaces, a pet spa, lounges, an exercise room, and terraces.

Plans for the third and fourth largest developments of the months were filed by Miki Naftali’s Naftali Group on January 5. The first plans called for the construction of a 225-foot tall, 22-story, 249-unit, 263,374-square-foot mixed-use building at 490 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg. The second plans called for a 225-foot tall, 21-story, 182-unit, 223,042-square-foot mixed-use building at 480 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg. The buildings are being designed by Brandon Haw Architecture, and the architect of record is Hill West.

The fifth largest plans of the month came on January 21 when Exact Capital filed plans for the construction of a 75-foot tall, seven-story, 182-unit, 173,111-square-foot mixed-use building at 1340 Blondell Avenue in Parkchester, the Bronx. Nimrud Eyal of Exact Capital filed the plans. Aufgang Architects is designing the building, which will have commercial space on the ground floor.

The five plans came during a month in which city developers filed for over 2.9 million square feet of new construction. The total was a 33 percent decrease from the 4.4 million square feet of new construction filed for in December. With that being said, The monthly total was the fourth highest since the start of 2020, behind only April’s 4.9 million square feet, May’s 5.4 million square feet, and last month’s 4.4 million square feet.

PincusCo looked at all new building (NB) filings of 2,000-square-feet and above. For residential buildings, the analysis covered those with four or more units, and did not include residential units in hotel (R-1) buildings.

The total number of residential units filed for in January decreased as well from the month prior, by a total of 54 percent. The 1,925 units was down from 4,212 in December, which was the highest total of all of last year. While hotel units were excluded from the residential unit analysis, Sam Chang’s McSam Hotel Group did file plans for a 408-key, 126,558-square-foot hotel at 144-02 135th Avenue in Jamaica on January 11. The plans were for the largest of four hotel plans filed during the month. The four plans totaled 635 hotel units.