Jericho Project, Vertical Community pay $6M to BNS for dev site in Mott Haven

Jericho Project and Vertical Community Development through the entity Jericho Bergen 148th Street Housing Development Fund paid $6 million to BNS Real Estate through the entity 524-526 Bergen Avenue LLC for the development site, currently a parking lot, at 415 East 148th Street in Mott Haven, the Bronx. The expected use is ground up development.
The deal closed on June 26, 2025 and was recorded on July 2, 2025. The two properties have zero square feet of built space and 43,027 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 43,027 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per buildable square foot is $139 per the PincusCo analysis. (The price per square foot analysis is the transaction price divided by square feet as reported in public records and assumes no air rights have been sold.)
The signatory for BNS Real Estate was Bradford S. Barr . The signatory for Jericho Project and Vertical Community Development was Victoria Lyon . The contract date was December 20, 2024.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Jericho Project had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller BNS Real Estate had not purchased any other properties and sold 11 properties in 11 transactions for a total of $58.7 million over the same time period.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 72 feet and is 109 feet deep with a total lot size of 5,008 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C4-4 which allows for up to 3.4 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 3.44 times FAR for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $483,000.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have not received any significant violations in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Mott Haven, The bulk, or 45 percent of the 41.7 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space. In sales, Mott Haven has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $238.5 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the highest in Bronx. For development, Mott Haven has 2 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 2nd highest in Bronx. It had 2.4 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 415 East 148th Street, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the 26 commercial properties representing 144,699 square feet of the 418,197 square feet. The largest owner is Empire Hotel Group, followed by Bridgerock Capital and then Chestnut Holdings Of New York.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 20,226 square feet. It is a 31-unit, 20,226 square-foot hotel/dormitory/shelter (R-1) building submitted by Jay Domb with plans filed February 3, 2017 and permitted July 23, 2018.

The majority, or 25 percent of the 418,197 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 23 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Bns Real Estate owned at least two commercial properties with 80 residential units in New York City with 139,803 square feet and a city-determined market value of $14.4 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 56 percent of the 139,803 square feet of built space are industrial properties, with elevator properties next occupying 44 percent of the space. The bulk, or 56 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Brooklyn next at 44 percent of the space.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Jericho Project owned at least four commercial properties with 87 residential units in New York City with 45,060 square feet and a city-determined market value of $5.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $39.1 million in debt, with top three lenders as Community Preservation Corporation, M&T Bank, and NYS Homeless Housing and Assistance Corporation respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 40 percent of the 45,060 square feet of built space are walkup properties, with specialty properties next occupying 35 percent of the space. The bulk, or 65 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Manhattan next at 35 percent of the space.
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Vertical Community Development owned at least two commercial properties with 165 residential units in New York City with 27,690 square feet and a city-determined market value of $2.3 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $108 million in debt, borrowed from NYC Housing Development Corporation and Supportive Housing Solutions Fund. Within the portfolio, all identified are industrial properties. They are all located in Bronx.

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