L+M files plans for 328 affordable units in Concourse, most in nabe since 2019

Affordable housing developer L+M Development Partners submitted a new building construction project for a 328-unit, 356,813 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 1225 Gerard Avenue in Concourse, Bronx. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on May 17, 2024 under job number X01023907. It calls for the construction of a 17-story building. The project is described in the filing as: new 17-story mixed-use building. Spencer Orkus, president of development for L+M, filed the plans. The architect is Bernheimer Architecture.

This is the largest residential development filed in Concourse since 2019, when L+M Development Partners filed plans for a 542-unit project at 575 Exterior Street. And this is the largest residential plan filed in the Bronx since Samaritan Daytop Village filed plans for 422 units in December 2023.

New York City owns the land. The development site is currently the surface parking lot for the Morrisania Diagnostic and Treatment Center, which is part of the city’s Health and Hospitals Corporation network.

L+M Development Partners and BronxWorks won a contract from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development to develop the projects.

The HPD website describes the project: “On December 30, 2021, HPD announced the designation of Site A to Type A Projects, L+M Development Partners, and BronxWorks as the development team for their proposal for River Commons. The design for the site provides a mix of permanently affordable unit sizes, including family-sized units – a request from the community during the engagement process. There will be 112 studio apartments, 89 one-bedroom, 63 two-bedroom and 14 three-bedroom units. The project integrates with the surrounding H+H campus and provides ground floor uses that will activate a stretch of River Avenue that is situated below an elevated train throughout the day.

“The project includes two high-impact community facilities: The BronxWorks Empowerment Center will provide an extensive range of services for the community, including health and nutrition education, fresh food access, after school and summer camp programming, family support, eviction prevention, as well as job readiness, training, and employment services.”

The property

The specialty building in Concourse has 147,677 square feet of built space and 317,242 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 464,671 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has five buildings with frontage of 281 feet and is 230 feet deep with a total lot size of 77,188 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R8A which allows for up to 6.02 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $28.9 million.

Prior sales and revenue

The 147,677-square-foot property generated revenue of $6.3 million or $43 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

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 Concourse, The bulk, or 46 percent of the 13.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with industrial buildings next occupying 16 percent of the space. In sales, Concourse has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $86.8 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 12th highest in Bronx. For development, Concourse 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 8 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the 14 commercial properties representing 113,863 square feet of the 332,943 square feet. The two identified owners are Halil Djonbalij and New York Police Department. On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 356,813 square feet. It is a 328-unit, 356,813 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by L+M Development Partners and filed by Spencer Orkus with plans filed May 17, 2024 and it has not been permitted yet.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 1257 Gerard Avenue, PincusCo identified three commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. One of those three items was a sale which Halil Djonbalij bought the 67,724-square-foot, 58-unit rental (D7) on 1265 Gerard Avenue for $6.7 million from Morgan Group on June 23, 2023. Of those three items, two were loans above $5 million totaling $11.9 million. The most recent of the two was WHEDco in which borrowed $6.6 million from NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development secured by the 197,119-square-foot, 135-unit rental (D5) on 50 East 168th Street on February 7, 2024.

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