Fordham Landing's developer seeks a zoning change for 927 Bronx apartments. The Council will have the final vote
The housing can already be built as of right; the request would add commercial space, including a supermarket. Community Board 7 votes later this month, and the project faces months more of review.
The developer of Fordham Landing, a long-delayed housing project on the Harlem River in University Heights, is asking the city for a zoning change to add commercial space to the first phase, the Bronx Times reported Friday. Dynamic Star LLC called the change "relatively minor." It would add a commercial overlay to a site now zoned only for housing.
Why it matters to residents: the first phase, Fordham Landing South, would bring 927 affordable apartments to 330 and 360 West Fordham Road, with 15% set aside for formerly homeless families, according to a second Bronx Times story. Plans include one 33-story and three 18-story towers, a supermarket, a waterfront café, community space and a connection to the University Heights Metro-North station.
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What happened
The application is now in the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP. Community Board 7 held a public hearing, and fewer than 10 people attended in person, the Bronx Times reported. The board is expected to vote at the end of November. Its vote is advisory. Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson must also weigh in.
The housing itself can be built under current zoning, the developer said. The overlay would allow the commercial pieces, including the supermarket. A company planning director told the board the earliest the deal could close is June 2027, and that construction would take 30 to 36 months, putting completion no earlier than 2030.
The site has been vacant for decades. The Bronx Times, citing The Real Deal, reported that a lender alleged last year that the developers defaulted on loans totaling about $74 million, and that Dynamic Star filed for bankruptcy to halt foreclosure, then filed again in March. Empire State Development has committed $55 million to the southern phase.
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What our records add
The Council decides zoning changes. After the community board, borough president and City Planning Commission review a zoning map change, the application goes to the Council's Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises, chaired by Farah N. Louis, then the Land Use Committee, chaired by Kevin C. Riley, and then the full Council. The site is in District 14, represented by Pierina Ana Sanchez.
A similar request passed unanimously this spring. On April 30, the Council approved the St. Francis Prep commercial overlay in Queens, a zoning map change of the same type, 50-0 (Res. 457).
The Council approved Bronx housing in the same community district this month. On Oct. 8, it voted 47-0 for a property tax exemption for the Fordham Bedford Cluster Phase 1 affordable housing project, also in Community District 7 (Res. 669).
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Fordham Landing itself has come up only in passing. Our transcript search finds no Council hearing on the project to date; it would reach the Council only after City Planning votes.
What's next
Community Board 7 votes at the end of November. The borough president's review follows, then City Planning. The Council's land use bodies next meet Nov. 10 on other applications. Fordham Landing would come later, likely in 2027.