Confirmed: Yolanda’s Restaurant to Become Market-Rate Apartments; Rendering Revealed

Just days after Melrose was declared one of NYC’s hottest neighborhoods for 2019, a developer has confirmed that they’re bringing market-rate rentals to the area where Yolanda’s Restaurant currently stands on 149th Street.

After we did some further research, it appears that the bulk of the building will be constructed at 148th Street on what is currently a parking lot also owned by the owners of Yolanda’s Restaurant and the building will have an address on the other side of the block at 149th Street.

The owners of Yolanda’s have been very tight-lipped and have not disclosed whether or not they are in the process of selling the properties or simply partnering with Omnibuild, the developer on public records and as reported by The Real Deal.

A few more details have also been revealed besides the fact that the 124 units will be market-rate, there will be roughly 21,000 square feet of retail, greens paces, some units will have terraces, a couple of lounges for tenants, and 20,000 square feet of outdoor space also for tenant use.

The property is located half a block from Lincoln Hospital and sits between 149th Street and Grand Concourse on the 2/4/5 lines and 3rd Avenue/149th Street on the 2/5 line both two blocks away and a five minute walk.

If the owners of Yolanda’s still control the property there is a chance that they may return to the new building but none of this has been confirmed or even mentioned.

So while the restaurant isn’t being displaced because of a greedy landlord, it’s still gentrification when they want to bring market-rate housing into an area where there is a far greater need for truly affordable housing.