Property owners make its second major purchase along desirable corridor
By DAVID CRUZ

The large-scale developer building up Webster Avenue has purchased another chunk of property along the burgeoning corridor.

This time, The Stagg Group, a family-owned housing developer, purchased three sites at 3084 Webster Ave. and 410-414 E. 203rd St. for $4.1 million. The two adjoining properties are found at a dead end street off Webster Avenue. It’s unclear what the property will be converted into.

According to Ariel Property Advisors, which sold the site to The Stagg Group, the combined sites allows for 93,000 buildable square feet for as of right housing and roughly 124,000 buildable square feet with inclusionary housing. The Stagg Group purchased the property in mid-December, according to Ariel Property’s website. Titan Capital ID, a private lender, loaned The Stagg Group $2.9 million to buy the property. A vacant lot and abandoned auto mechanic shop currently occupy the sites.

“I’m glad to see somebody’s investing in the area as long as they’re not investing in housing that’s not supportive housing,” said Jean Hill, committee chair for Community Board 7’s Housing/Land Use committee. The committee is tasked to review all housing projects, offering non-binding approvals.

News of the purchase comes as the property owner’s latest development, a trio of mixed-income buildings on Webster Avenue by East 201st Street and Bedford Park Boulevard, is slated to open this year. It also comes amid the firm announcing that former Bronx Borough President Adolf Carrion will serve as its executive vice president.

It’s the first such complex to be built several years after the strip went through heavy rezoning by the New York City Department of City Planning. Among the provisions is a retail component mandated on the first floor for any new building looking to benefit from the 421-a tax break.

Last year, the committee suspected The Stagg Group would renege on its promise in building mixed-use housing in favor of supportive housing, which it was accused of doing in other parts of the borough.

But developers, led by owner Mark Stagg, soon dispelled rumors after releasing information showing it was targeting middle-income earners to occupy the buildings. A combined 97 studio and 1- and 2-bedroom apartments will fill the buildings. The three buildings will have market rate apartments that start at $1300 for studios per month, while monthly rents for 1- and 2-bedrooms will go for $1,500 and $1,700 respectively.

Agreeing to set aside 20 percent of their units to qualify for the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s (HPD) 421-a tax incentive program, The Stagg Group will offer 25 affordable housing apartments. Rents for affordable units range from $1,275 for a one-bedroom to $1,435 a month for a two-bedroom. Tens of thousands of applicants have vied for a unit via a lottery system from HPD’s website.

The new buildings are part of a cluster of major construction projects currently happening on Webster Avenue, part of the Webster Avenue Vision Plan, a long-term redevelopment initiative pushed by the Four Bronx Institutions Alliance comprised of Montefiore Medical Center, Fordham University, The Bronx Zoo and The New York Botanical Garden.

The announcement was part of a list of five properties currently sold in the Bronx, totaling $10.5 million. They include two multifamily apartment buildings in Belmont, a medical building in Mount Hope, and a four-story walkup in Longwood. The Stagg Group has also looked for property in the East Bronx, purchasing a horse stable at 1680 Pelham Pkwy. to make way for a six-story, 130-unit building.

Hill plans on inviting developers to the Board’s Land Use/Housing Committee. Representatives from The Stagg Group were unavailable for comment as of deadline.