NEW YORK | La Central | 5 Highrises (954 Units)

[chris08876]

Pretty big news for the Bronx. Should get some attention as the project goes through the review process.

The outgoing Bloomberg administration has announced plans for a five-building, 985-unit mixed-income development for the Melrose section of the Bronx.
Bordered by Bergen Avenue, Brook Avenue and East 149th Street, the development was dubbed La Central and will be geared toward low- to moderate-income tenants who make 30 percent to 100 percent of the neighborhood’s average median income. Among the units will be 96 marked for so-called supportive housing, which “will serve formerly homeless veterans and New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS,” according to the announcement.

La Central will also include retail, community facilities, open space, a new YMCA, an astronomy lab, rooftop farm and a music studio. The total estimated cost is roughly $345 million.

BRP Development Corporation, Hudson Companies, Common Ground, Comunilife, the Kretchmer Companies, ELH Management and the YMCA won the competition to build on the parcel, formerly known as the Bronxchester Urban Renewal site. The proposal must make its way through the public review process, but pending that, is slated to break ground in 2015.

Largest remaining tract of land in the South Bronx will be the largest development in Southern Melrose once completed. In this panoramic image you can see the lots from the lots from the southern most portion just north of the 2/5 subway line as they emerge underground (right) and all the way north to 153rd Street where Brook meets Bergen Avenue at Via Verde (left)
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http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/12/...tral-revealed/
http://www.welcome2thebronx.com/word...e-south-bronx/

[chris08876]

More information on it:

Building A: 211 affordable apartments; approximately 48,000 square foot YMCA-community facility; a diabetes prevention program operated by Montefiore Medical Center; rooftop farm; approximately 19,000 square feet of new retail space. ·

Building B:affordable apartments; approximately 24,000 square feet of retail space, including restaurant space; cellar level garage with approximately 138 parking spaces. ·

Building C:affordable apartments; Music Has No Enemies (MHNE) which will occupy approximately 5,000 square feet of community space consisting of a recording studio and curate workshops and open the recording studio to projects for and by the community. ·

Building D: affordable apartments; 10,000 square foot mental health clinic operated by Comunilife that will work with veterans living within the development and individuals within the community. ·

Building E: 198 affordable apartments; Bronx Astronomy Tower and Lab - a rooftop telescope to be used by the Bronx High School of Science; daycare facility. · The approximately 7,000 square-foot triangular vacant lot at the intersection of Brook and Bergen Avenues will be developed as open space, accessible to the general public.

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http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/1...verde.php#more
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The La Central project slated for the Bronxchester sites exemplifies the impact of the NHMP’s unprecedented investment in communities throughout New York City over the past decade. The physical and catalytic transformative power of the NHMP can be seen in neighborhoods from East New York, to Harlem, to Arverne, and to the area in the South Bronx that surrounds the La Central site in the Melrose Commons Urban Renewal Area. This South Bronx neighborhood formerly infamous for its blight and long stigmatized by the notorious phrase, “the Bronx is burning,” has been transformed as the City has redeveloped 46 contiguous acres shared by Community Districts 1 and 3. Since construction began in Melrose Commons 2,818 new residential units have been completed, and when all sites are completed it is expected that approximately 3,700 new residential units and approximately 300,000-square-feet of commercial space will have been created.

“Our team is excited and honored to have been selected by HPD to develop the Bronxchester site. Our development plan will play a key role in the continued revitalization of the Hub and create a platform of opportunity and economic activity for generations to come. Through its smart design elements, the project combines the best of sustainable design, active streetscape, and open space. This project represents a true collaboration between public, private, and nonprofit partners at its best. It will prove to be a catalytic and transformative investment in the Bronx community,” said Geoff Flournoy, Managing Partner of BRP Companies.

The Bronxchester development site comprises five tax lots bordered by Bergen Avenue, Brook Avenue and East 149th Street, and encompass approximately 184,500 square feet. When complete the sites will create a thriving mixed-income, mixed-use development consisting of five separate buildings and a total of 985 units of affordable housing for low- to moderate-income New Yorkers. This includes 96 units of supportive housing operated by Comunilife which will serve formerly homeless veterans and New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. Comunilife will also operate a mental health clinic that will work with veterans living within the development and individuals within the community.

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http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-ma...-under-new/#/0

[Antares41]

With all the development in Brooklyn and Queens, I'm looking for the Bronx to see more action. Of course it won't be luxury apartments, but, there are plenty of people still looking for affordable housing in the city.

[chris08876]

Some insight into the project and a overview of the Suth Bronx developments in the vicinity. All which should synergies once built.
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‘LA CENTRAL’ WILL CHANGE 3RD AVENUE / THE HUB AS WE KNOW IT

National retail chains began taking a serious look at the HUB with the opening up of The Children’s Place, Planet Fitness, and Aldi Food Market — the parent company of Trader Joe’s.

Not one but two Blink Fitness gyms (the chain’s parent company is the high end gym Equinox) opened in Melrose where the HUB is located.

There is even My Wellness Solutions, a specialty wellness spa which opened up 3 years ago catering to holistic approach to health and providing a wide variety of services such as massage therapy, facials, body wraps and more.

The Bronx Documentary Center, which opened its doors a little over 2 years ago has brought thousands of people —including many long time residents— through its doors and the neighborhood to experience the gallery’s top quality and internationally reviewed exhibitions and documentary screenings.

Many of the stores along 3rd Avenue have improved and even renovated their once dingy and uninviting storefronts.

Now with the planned development of ‘La Central’, directly behind 3rd Avenue on Bergen Avenue, the area will see a flood of more middle income residents as well as low income working class individuals needing New and better services than before.

Triangle Plaza is going up on 149th Street and Bergen Avenue which will bring with it more retail space and will house Metropolitan College of New York bringing a total to four institutions of higher learning in and around the HUB.

La Central brings with it 985 units of housing which will be for low and middle income working families. As you already know from Welcome2Melrose and Welcome2TheBronx thousands of apartments have been constructed in Melrose surrounding the HUB with thousands of new working class middle and low income residents.

According to Crain’s New York, “Since 2008, 20 new buildings with 3,700 apartments have gone up around the South Bronx retail strip known as the HUB, bringing an army of higher-income residents. Now all they need is someplace to shop.” The article goes on to say that the average income of these new residents at $35,000 a year is already 50% higher than long-time residents.

Of these buildings, the Aurora Condominium along with the Orion Condominium and the Co-ops at Via Verde brought a total of 223 middle income apartments providing area residents with homeownership opportunities. This number doesn’t include the 265 condominium units at Melrose Court which was built in the 1990s nor does it include the just over a hundred newly built 1-3 family homes in Melrose surrounding the HUB.

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http://www.welcome2thebronx.com/word...as-we-know-it/
‘LA CENTRAL’ WILL CHANGE 3RD AVENUE / THE HUB AS WE KNOW IT

[mrnyc]

my neck of the woods -- yep this has all been planned for a long time.

across the street from the triangle plaza development, which is under construction now and will mostly be a grocery store, is an another interesting long running rehab project, the old bronx opera house. the east side of it was converted to the opera house hotel thats already open. and just to the north everybody likes via verde, its cool looking and gives the bx some clean, modern looking pizzazz.

[mrnyc]

seems like they only work mornings on the grocery plaza section on 149th st, between brook, bergen and westchester aves.



nothing doing on the housing and tower section north of westchester ave as yet.

edit -- here the handsome bx opera house renovation across the strert on 149th st that i mentioned above.



http://www.operahousehotel.com/mobile.aspx

[NYguy]

http://archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=7230

The Bronx is Building
FXFOWLE designs La Central, a mixed-use and mixed-income development in the South Bronx





Henry Melcher
4.9.2014

In the final weeks of the Bloomberg Administration, FXFOWLE was selected to design a one-million-square-foot, mixed-income, mixed-use complex in the South Bronx. A few months later, the firm is finalizing plans for La Central, a project it hopes will build on the successes of Via Verde, a similar affordable development built nearby. It is an ambitious undertaking for FXFOWLE. The firm is not just designing a building, it is attempting to create a neighborhood.

“Via Verde is at the large end of a singular building and we’re at the small end of building a whole neighborhood,” said Dan Kaplan, a senior partner at FXFOWLE. The $345-million project includes 985 units of mixed-income affordable housing, 40,000 square feet of retail, a 50,000-square-foot YMCA, a skate park, green roofs, and a recording studio. The tallest tower also includes a telescope for Bronx High School of Science students.

Kaplan described the firm’s design for La Central as a London terrace that has been broken apart. “We took the super-block and sort of wrapped it in a masonry jacket,” he explained. “Then cut holes in it and revealed a sort of lighter, more luminous inside.” La Central’s interior courtyards will be wrapped in metal panels and Future Green Studio will design the interior landscaping.

The building’s brick exterior is punctuated by vegetated highlights at different elevations: green-screens rise at the street level and trees grow out of rooftop terraces.

Wile the design for La Central is not as colorful as Via Verde, the new project borrows—and builds upon—its predecessor’s programming, which promotes green and healthy lifestyles. All five of La Central’s buildings are topped with photovoltaic panels and green roofs that are accessible to tenants. The project also features an outdoor play area for children and a massive south-facing deck where GROW NY will teach community members about urban agriculture. Kaplan said the site’s programming is intended for both the tenants of the property as well as the surrounding community.

In terms of housing, La Central is geared toward families: nearly 50 percent of the affordable units will have at least two bedrooms. But unlike Via Verde, individuals at La Central will not have the opportunity to buy their homes—all of the nearly 1,000 affordable apartments are slated to be rentals. Kaplan said this could possibly change down the road.

La Central consists of two-phases. Construction is expected to start in the latter half of 2015.

[streetscaper]

How's construction going on these?

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by streetscaper

How's construction going on these?

Later half of 2015 or sometime in 2015 is when construction will start.

[chris08876]

Spotted this rendering:


Credit: http://www.mhgarch.com/Bronxchester.html

[mrnyc]

^ thank you for finding the render and bringing this thread back to life.

i can report the lo-rise 149st triangle plaza grocery/shopping center building is built, but they are still very busy on site working to finish it up.

nothing doing on the massive la central housing tower sites as yet.

although we will hate all the ongoing construction -- those renders make me look forward to the la central project hopefully turning out as nice looking as via verde and the other newer housing further up and around melrose/boricua vertical college did.

also looking forward to the reconstruction on the hub plaza at 149/3rd ave. its completely underused and its very busy around the hub area, so its perfect for fixing up into a nice pedestrian plaza. i think it will be called roberto clemente plaza and its supposed to be done by the end of this year.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

although we will hate all the ongoing construction -- those renders make me look forward to the la central project hopefully turning out as nice looking as via verde and the other newer housing further up and around melrose/boricua vertical college did.

I'm hoping too it turns out like those other projects. The Bronx will be the epicenter of many more amazing developments. Lots in the pipeline. The old stigma of the Bronx is bad, shitty, crime filled, will be erased once all of these new residents appear, and the area, from parks, plazas, commercial, industrial, and residential aspects pop up. All of which are in the pipeline. South Bronx especially.

I'm happy for the borough. Gentrification done right, and lots of these developments are part of the affordable housing plan. Its going to add a new element to the river skylines as high rises pop up all over S.Bronx, and the adjacent Queens waterfront. It wouldn't at all surprise me if a new tallest for the borough is in the works. Time to eclipse the Harlem River Towers. Something over 410+ sounds reasonable in the next couple of years.

[mrnyc]

from tuesday - here is construction on 3rd ave of the nearby hub pedestrian plaza

[chris08876]

Permits Filed: 626 Bergen Avenue, La Central Supportive Housing, Melrose

626 Bergen will house 99,000 square feet of community facility space and reach 104 feet into the air between Bergen Avenue, Brook Avenue, East 152nd and East 153rd Streets. The site plan labels it “Building D,” and it will be part of the first phase of construction.

FXFOWLE is the design architect, and the architects of record are Midtown South-based MHG Architects.

Overall, La Central will encompass five buildings and 985 units of affordable housing. The block-long development will also include 50,000 square feet for a YMCA, 45,000 square feet of retail, a public skate park, office space for BronxNet television studios, and a rooftop telescope for the Bronx High School of Science. The developers promise nearly two acres of private and public open space, ranging from landscaped courtyards and playgrounds to roof decks.

Hudson, Related Companies, BRP, ELH-TKC LLC, Comunilife, and YMCA are developing the rest of the project.

Construction on the first three buildings, one of which is 626 Bergen, will begin later this year and is expected to wrap by early 2018.

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http://www.yimbynews.com/2015/06/per...g-melrose.html

[chris08876]

This will break ground Q2 of 2016.

Originally late 2015 but its been pushed.

[Busy Bee]

This is great for the Bx but the design of this complex does absolutely nothing for me and I'm leery that it won't age well at all. I wish they could just design something handsome and sturdy that won't look "flavor of the month" by 2030.

[mrnyc]

^ yeah its definately uninspiring, especially as compared to via verde just to the north, but its practical, solid and well needed infill.

despite the loss of parking (ha!) this is good news, i was wondering what the delay was.

fwiw the A section is packing a lot into a small sliver of land right next to where the 2/5 train comes up out of the ground. currently it mostly parking lots. the only structure is a small old former post office/boxing gym. the other sections are a grassy triangle field across the street. there is some sort of perhaps pre-construction digging and work going on for this project in one small section already at bergen/149st.

btw very nearby we also hear that a couple parking lots will be developed into a new police precinct bldg. this is at westchester ave/st. ann's.

[chris08876]

Just some larger versions of the renderings above:

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

^ yeah its definately uninspiring, especially as compared to via verde just to the north, but its practical, solid and well needed infill.

And that's the point essentially. Practical. Thing that people must understand with NYC developments is that not all of them will be winners. We have 70,000-80,000 people moving in yearly, over 50,000 units u/c or coming online, and we can't expect every tower ranging from high to mid to low to be winners. First and foremost comes profit. If they can make money off it, its golden. Some will take the extra step to make it nice, but when dealing with affordable housing, and a development which focuses heavily on it, we will not get the ultra-luxury touch that we see with some Brooklyn condos or Manhattan rentals with 10-20 units for the whole tower.

[chris08876]

Diaz Budgets $1.5M for Affordable Housing Complex With Skate Park

A major South Bronx development that includes a rooftop telescope, affordable housing and a public skate park will get a $1.5 million boost from the borough.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is including the money for La Central, a mixed-use project coming to 430 Westchester Ave., in his upcoming capital budget, which will come out later in July.

The budget will include a total of $34,450,000 for more than 100 projects, and La Central is one of the bigger developments it will focus on, according to Diaz's office.

The 1.1 million-square-foot project, located right by The Hub, will feature 992 apartments, including 160 units of supportive housing for people with special needs. It will also contain a YMCA, space for BronxNet Television Studios, a public skate park and a telescope on the roof.

It will include several four-bedroom apartments as well, which will be especially helpful for The Bronx given the number of immigrants with large families moving to the area, according to Diaz's office.

The environmentally friendly project will help fill out The Hub and increase housing opportunities in the borough for middle-income and low-income people, Diaz said.

"La Central is [a] perfect example showcasing how we are always looking to build on the successes that we have managed to accomplish here in The Bronx,” Diaz said in a statement.

La Central will contain 30,000 square feet of community space and more than 45,000 square feet of retail space, and residents of Community District 1 will get preference for half of the housing units, according to The Hudson Companies, one of the developers for the project.

Construction of La Central is scheduled to start late in 2015 and finish in early 2019.

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http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/2015...ith-skate-park