Treetop Development is setting its sights on the South Bronx.
The Teaneck, N.J.-based developer is planning a large residential building at 121-129 East 144th Street, which it recently purchased for $6 million from M&N Partners.
Treetop – led by Azi Mandel and Adam Mermelstein – hasn’t yet decided whether to include affordable apartments in their plans. If it does, the project could yield a building as large as 91,100 square feet. If the company elects to go fully market-rate, the maximum square footage would be just over 68,000 square feet, New York Yimby reported.
Major developers such as the Related Cos., RXR Realty, the Chetrit Group and Somerset Partners have recently begun to move more forcefully into the Bronx (The Real Deal dove into the trend in its November 2015 issue). Medium-sized developers like Treetop are now benefitting from the influx, Ariel Property Advisors’ Jason Gold, who brokered Treetop’s buy, told Yimby.
“We feel very confident about development sites and mixed-use projects [in Mott Haven],” Gold told the blog. “You get more investors coming when they see a larger institutional firm already established in the location.”
Treetop isn’t concerned about the expiration of the 421a, Gold told Yimby, as the developer wasn’t certain whether it would take advantage of the program.
Earlier this month, Treetop entered into contract to sell the massive rental complex at 62-60 99th Street in Rego Park to Madison Realty Capital for $135 million.
The firm traded two large rental portfolios in December, buying eight Queens buildings from Algin Management for $138.8 million, and selling six buildings in Washington Heights to Hillcrest Acquisitions, who paid $36 million. [NY YIMBY] – Ariel Stulberg