Boynton Properties Sells Vacant Bronx Lot for $60M

Boynton Properties, an affiliate of Joel Braver’s Express Builders, has offloaded a 9.3-acre vacant lot in the Bronx’s Soundview neighborhood.

Boynton Properties sold the site at 1580 Story Avenue to David Templer, who used the entity Soundview Empire, for $60 million, according to city records made public Friday. Records also list 1581 Lafayette Avenue as part of the sale, which is diagonally across the site at the intersection of Lafayette and Metcalf avenues.

The property next to Soundview’s James Burke Ballfield comprises four separate tax lots and is currently being used for parking, records show. The lot also sits in the middle of four 19-story apartment buildings known as the Lafayette Estates and Lafayette Boynton Apartments, according to Crain’s New York Business, which first reported the news.

Braver signed the deal for the seller, while Templer signed for the buyer, records show.

It’s unclear who brokered the deal. Braver and Templer could not be reached for comment.

Braver bought one portion of the property in 2019 for $18.5 million and two other portions in 2020 for the same price, records show. It’s unclear when he acquired the fourth tax lot.

In June 2022, Braver filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings to construct a 19-story, 562-unit residential building on the entire site, though it’s unclear what happened to those plans.

As part of the new deal, Templer signed as a borrower on a nearly $160 million construction loan from New Jersey-based Valley National Bank, according to property records.

While it’s unclear what Templer’s exact plans are for the property, the site is already zoned to allow residential use, meaning he may plan to build another apartment complex, Crain’s reported.

If Templer does build another residential property, it would be part of a much larger development boom happening in the Bronx.

That includes Joy Construction’s plans for an 11-story, 213-unit apartment building at 1545 Jerome Avenue in Mount Eden, as well as Hudson Companies and BRP Companies’ two-building affordable housing development called La Central.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.