Maddd Equities Files Plans for 73-Unit Apartment Building in East Harlem

Jorge Madruga’s Maddd Equities has filed plans for a new mixed-use building on the site of a historic East Harlem bank.

Madruga plans to construct a 13-story building with 73 residential units at 132 East 125th Street, according to an application filed with the city’s Department of Buildings this week. The project will also include retail and medical space below the apartments, records show.

Ariel Aufgang from Aufgang Architects filed the plans while Madruga was listed as the owner, according to records.

Aufgang and a spokesperson for Maddd did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Maddd’s plans for the project will likely be approved next year, making way for construction to begin, according to The Real Deal, which first reported the news.

The developer bought the 100,000-square-foot East Harlem site in 2020 after buying the lot at 124 East 125th Street for $15 million and the lot at 132 East 125th Street for $10.8 million, TRD reported.

Maddd secured the land through a $15 million loan from Metropolitan Bank in 2021 and also purchased roughly 17,000 square feet of air rights at the property, according to TRD.

Madruga originally planned to build a school on the site, but he ran into hurdles when a deal with the New York City School Construction Authority fell through, the outlet reported.

The properties contain the historic Harlem Savings Bank Building, along with a two-story property most recently occupied by a pizzeria. Maddd filed plans to demolish the buildings in 2022, Patch reported. The buildings appear to still be standing as of March, according to the New York City Department of Finance’s website.

News of the Harlem project comes after Maddd and frequent partner Joy Construction purchased a development site in the Bronx for $22.6 million along with supermarket chain Food Bazaar in September, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

The owners plan to build a roughly 320-unit housing development at the former two-story parking garage at 1959 Jerome Avenue.

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