Development doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon in Melrose, The Bronx’s unofficial downtown neighborhood.
After a lull in construction for a few years, developments are either in the process of breaking ground, in the middle of construction, almost complete or just filing applications in the neighborhood.
Last year, Bronx Borough Developer, I mean President Ruben Diaz Jr called to study three Bronx rail yards for possible decking to spur further development throughout our borough.
Today he has issued the findings of the report which singles out the Concourse Yards in Bedford Park and nixing out the 149th Street yards in Melrose and Broadway Yards in Riverdale as currently logistically unfeasible.
This Sunday from 2PM to 5PM, the 3rd Annual Bronx Gentrification Conference will be held, this time, at New Settlement Community Center at 1501 Jerome Avenue.
Since The Bronx Documentary began this series in December of 2012, speculation and gentrification have crept into our borough at a rapid rate despite our Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr denying that gentrification is happening.
2015 became the year that The Bronx was put up for sale and is being sold to the highest bidders not to mention the Piano District party and fiasco which has angered a borough.
This morning on the Brian Lehrer show, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr said that he thinks gentrification is wrong for our neighborhoods but when a caller by the name of Collin questioned him on what’s happening in our borough, Diaz became dismissive and rude. Here’s our list showing gentrification is real in The Bronx.
It was up for barely a month yet it made headlines around the world and now it’s gone—the Piano District billboard has been replaced with an innocuous ice cream ad.
The billboard display heralding the coming of luxury waterfront living and a rebranding of a neighborhood while promising to bring in “world class dining, fashion, and art” for many was a sign that gentrification was coming in and fast.
The Bronx waited a week for our borough president to speak up on the tasteless…
In the first wave of construction in Melrose, over 3,000 units of “affordable” housing were constructed bringing thousands of new residents into the area and making the neighborhood the fastest growing neighborhood in The Bronx and 3rd fastest in New York City as per the 2010 census.
Now Melrose is experiencing its second wave of major construction as the last remaining parcels of what was once empty lots filled with the rubble of burnt out and abandoned buildings are being filled in with new affordable developments and even market-rate developments with over 2.1 million square feet of developments are in various phases of construction
In a pro-gentrification piece written by The New York Times, it was announced by one of the developers of the three 25 story residential towers (of 6) planned for the South Bronx Harlem River waterfront, that 1 bedrooms would rent for a mind-blowing $3,750.
Barely a year since we reported properties on either side of the Third Avenue Bridge approach were purchased for obscene and speculative amounts, three of the lots have had recent plans filed for three 25 story residential towers which, if approved, will bring what appears to be 1,661 market rate units to the area.
Let’s face it: We already knew that developers were going to set their eyes on The Bronx, often called “The Last Frontier” by real estate developers and moguls due to The South Bronx’s proximity to Manhattan and excellent transportation network but as speculative purchases are made on properties far more than their actual worth, is it over for those trying to make a quick buck on our back?
198 E 135th Street, which was owned by storage company CubeSmart, was sold on May 12, 2015 for $15,470,000 to Deegan 135 Realty LLC.
Courtlandt Corners in Melrose, the development which comprises of Courtlandt Corners I & II and Courtlandt Crescent, has rebranded the phase II building on the northern side of 161st Street as ‘The Upton’ offering ‘affordable luxury living’ but at rents that are well above the neighborhood average and clearly are not affordable to the general area population.
Coming Soon: Bushwick…If We Let It.
The following is syndicated from CityLimits and is very appropriate and applicable to The Bronx as signs of gentrification continue to manifest itself in the South Bronx. Is this what Bronx residents have to look forward to as developers are given free reign by our politicians to come into our neighborhoods and development with rampant disregard?
New York City has become a sterile, cookie-cutter “suburban” city. Neighborhoods in Manhattan and many parts of Brooklyn no longer have a distinct character or are losing them and becoming more homogeneous. Is this what we really want to happen to The Bronx?
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