Bronx lot bought for $2.6M gets a 16-story, 99-unit filing in 99 days

A buyer paid $2.6 million for a single Bedford Park lot in the Bronx and filed plans for a 16-story, 99-unit residential building 99 days after the deed date. The buyer, 2814-2818 Morris Owner LLC, took title from Martin Ortega, the seller of record, on June 17. The city received the new-building filing on Sept. 24.

Why it matters

The gap is the story. Three months from closing to a full new-building application means the buyer had a design in hand before, or very soon after, it owned the lot. The land price works out to about $26,300 per proposed unit and about $38 per sq ft of the 69,016 sq ft of floor area the filing describes. Those are land-basis figures, not a construction budget.

For a developer or builder, the question is what the lot was zoned for when it sold and what the filing needs to clear. This is a filing, not a permit, and it is pending plan examiner assignment.

The numbers

• Deed: recorded July 2, dated June 17, $2,600,000, seller Martin Ortega, buyer 2814-2818 Morris Owner LLC (Manhattan address on the deed).
• Lot: Bronx block 3318, lot 95, 2814 Morris Avenue, postcode 10468.
• Filing X01458535-I1: New Building, 16 stories, 99 dwelling units, 69,015.8 sq ft total construction floor area, filed Sept. 24.
• Architect of record: Nikolai Katz Architect. The filing lists Cheskel Salamon as owner contact, and the owner business name field reads “Not Applicable,” so the principal behind the LLC is not confirmed by the record.
• Initial cost on the filing is $0, so no construction budget is on file yet.

What’s next

The application must clear plan examination before any permit issues, and the lot’s zoning and lot area will decide whether 99 units survive review. Watch for a permit, a construction loan or a sale of the site. We are tracking New York filings like this one in our New York coverage.