Brooklyn-Based Developer Plans New Apartment Building in the Bronx

A Brooklyn-based developer is eyeing new housing in the Bronx’s Mott Haven neighborhood.

Yaakov Lefkowitz, a principal at Lefko Capital Group, has filed plans to build a five-story, 44-unit residential building at 496 East 134th Street, according to a filing earlier this month with the New York City Department of Buildings.

The proposed 27,808-square-foot, 44-family building would sit on the same tax lot as the current one-story industrial building on the property, according to PincusCo, which first reported the news.

A spokesperson for BMG Architect, the architect listed on the project, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Lefkowitz could not be reached for comment.

If approved, Lefkowitz’s new apartment building between Brown Place and Brook Avenue would also include 2,999 square feet of commercial space, according to the filing.

Lefkowitz bought the Mott Haven property in August of last year for $3.2 million, property records show.

News of the project comes as more and more developers look to the Bronx for new residential buildings.

Last month, Maddd Equities began the process of developing two residential towers comprising more than 1,100 affordable housing units at 1014 Brook Avenue in the borough’s Morrisania neighborhood, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

And in June, Hudson Companies and BRP Companies broke ground on the final phase of the La Central development at 626 Bergen Avenue in the South Bronx, which will include two new buildings and 420 affordable units, CO reported.

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