September new developments review: Arker, Solomon Feder, Joel Schwartz

By Atticus O’Brien-Pappalardo

PincusCo is taking a look back at the largest new developments filed with the New York City Department of Buildings in September.

The plans for the largest new building of the month were pre-filed by Arker Companies on September 25. The permit application called for construction of a 257-unit, 220,478-square-foot mixed-use building at 51-19 Beach Channel Drive in Edgemere, Queens. The property is part of a 9.3 acre site which Arker is redeveloping along with the Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corporation.

The larger project will bring 11 new buildings and roughly 2,200 new units to the former Peninsula Hospital site. The redevelopment aims to bring mixed-income housing, new retail space, and community resources to the neighborhood. The residential component will bring high-quality affordable and middle-income housing for families and seniors in the area. The community facilities and retail space will come in the form of more than 37,000-square-feet of publicly-accessible open space, local parking, and a new supermarket.

This filing is part of Phase 1 of the project, with an expected completion date sometime in 2023. However, the entire project will be completed over the next 10-15 years.

Solomon Feder was responsible for the second largest plans of the month. Pre-filed on September 8, the plans called for a 165-unit, 171,650-square-foot residential building at 26-25 4th Street in Astoria. The 204-foot tall, 18-story structure will have an exercise room, lounge, co-working space, and numerous passive recreation spaces.

The property is currently occupied by a two-story commercial building. Plans were filed in September of 2019 to demolish the structure but have not yet been permitted.

The third largest plans were pre-filed by Joel Schwartz on September 14. The plans called for a 227-unit, 158,730-square-foot mixed-use building at 2700 Atlantic Avenue in East New York. When completed, the 140-foot tall, 14-story mixed-use building, which was acquired for $11.5 million on May 30, 2018, will have retail space at the ground floor level. Peter Pizzimenti will be responsible for the building’s design.

The fourth largest plans were pre-filed by Arben Mitaj on September 29. The plans called for construction of a 111-unit, 75,672-square-foot residential building at 2072 Anthony Avenue in Fordham. The plans come after the developer’s original plans, pre-filed in 2019, were disapproved.

Rounding out the top five is Spaxel, which pre-filed a permit application on September 8, calling for the construction of a 74-unit, 59,292-square-foot residential building at 16 Wade Square in Tremont.

A/R Environetics Architects was listed as the architect for the development, which will occupy property which Spaxel purchased for $950,000 on June 16, 2020.

The five plans came during a month in which NYC developers filed for the fewest total square feet of new construction since July of 2019. The 1.5 million total square feet was a 36 percent decrease from the 2.4 million square feet of new construction filed for in August.

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 September also experienced a significant drop off from the month prior. The 1,547 total units was nearly a 37 percent decrease from the 2,452 units filed for in August.

September’s totals were a step backwards, following a month in which the market seemed to be heading towards somewhat of a recovery.