After six years of filings with NYC’s Department of Buildings and construction delays, 500 Exterior Street is rising with the 11 story hotel slated to be completed sometime in 2016 and Holiday Inn Express has leased the building according to owner Harshad Patel. The property sits across from the Special Harlem River Waterfront District where a proposed waterfront park would go along with 4,000 units of housing (2.8 million square feet of housing, 2.3 million square feet of commercial space, 1 million square feet of community space).
Once completed, the Holiday Inn Express at 500 Exterior Street—just two blocks from the Bronx Terminal Market, Mill Pond Park, 149th Street/Grand Concourse Station on the 2/4/5 trains, the Bronx General Post Office adaptive reuse project and a short walk to other cultural attractions such as Yankee Stadium and local galleries—will offer 69 overnight rooms under the company’s signature brand.
Further down the road and pretty much off the beaten path is the Comfort Inn rising on 3rd Avenue and 135th Street which has also seen major delays and is scheduled for completion in 2016 as well.
This brings the total to 3 developments in the Lower Concourse Area which was rezoned in 2009 and includes the Special Harlem River Waterfront District and the 3rd being Morris Court which is now open and families are already moving in.
Meanwhile, just a couple of blocks away from the future Holiday Inn Express, the landmark PS 31, aka the Castle on the Concourse, is slowly being demolished in what can only be called one of the biggest disgraces and neglect in recent Bronx and city history. It is DEPLORABLE that the city allowed this landmark structure to be torn down when it could have been salvaged as per independent engineering reports.
As for the rest of the Lower Concourse Area, we already know that the market is heating up and the for lease and for sale signs are slowly popping up around—not to mention properties being purchased that aren’t even on the market.
What will the future hold for the South Bronx neighborhoods of Port Morris, Mott Haven, Melrose, and Grand Concourse corridor up to 167th Street or so as prices continue to break records both in sales and rentals?
