Heights Advisors, a Brooklyn-based development and investment firm led by founder and president Rachel Foster, plans to bring 606 affordable housing units to the Soundview neighbourhood of the Bronx. The company submitted a land use application to the New York City Department of City Planning on Wednesday. This application seeks a rezoning and special permit for the construction of a 21-storey, mixed-use building with 606 units at 945 White Plains Road.
This application initiates the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), which typically involves approximately seven months of public scrutiny of the proposed zoning changes. This includes formal hearings before a final vote by the City Council and the City Planning Commission.
If approved, the project proposed by Heights Advisors would encompass 515,063 square feet. Of this, 503,095 square feet would be residential space and 11,968 square feet commercial space, according to the application. The Brooklyn-based developer is seeking construction loan financing under the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development's New Construction Finance Program. This programme provides funding for the construction of 100 percent affordable multi-family rental projects.
Of Heights Advisors' 606 planned units, approximately 152 are intended to be affordable. It is currently unclear whether Heights Advisors, which is the ground lessee of 945 White Plains Road under a 99-year ground lease, intends to demolish the current retail property on the site. This property currently houses a Model's Sporting Goods and GameStop. A comment from Heights Advisors to an inquiry from Commercial Observer was not immediately available.
Other planned residential projects in the Bronx include a development with 228 affordable senior housing units at 3728 Park Avenue, as well as a pair of residential buildings each with 99 units at 761-769 East Tremont Avenue.
