POSTINGS; New Condos Near Yankee Stadium http://query.nytimes.com/search/articleprintpage.html?res=9D07E0D7...
July 3, 2005
POSTINGS; New Condos Near Yankee Stadium
By JOSH BARBANEL
IN the South Bronx, first there were the fires and demolitions, then a wave of
governmentsubsidized housing, followed by private developers competing to put up
houses for sale, and now, another landmark, the beginnings of marketrate
condominium development.
The Jackson Development Group, which has put up more than 300 two to fourfamily
houses in the South Bronx, is testmarketing 28 condos in seven row houses that it is
putting up on Nelson Avenue in the Highbridge section of the Bronx, just up a hill from
Yankee Stadium.
Neil Weissman, a principal in the company, said the group had received permission to
begin marketing the condominiums, at prices far below what is available elsewhere in
the city $235,000 for a floorthrough threebedroom apartment with a balcony and
$195,000 for a twobedroom with a rear patio facing a communal backyard.
He said that the plan would provide apartments affordable to a new group of buyers,
who could buy with as little as $15,000 in cash for a down payment and closing costs
and pay less each month than they would to rent a comparable apartment in the same
neighborhood. It would also offer a higher return to the developer than selling the
seven row houses separately.
The apartments are not large; the threebedroom units are about 1,000 square feet. The
facade is brick with a mansard roof of asphalt tile and white peaks of aluminum siding.
But just as in other new condominiums, Mr. Weissman and his partners, Jorge Madruga
and Jacob Rad, have begun to think in terms of amenities at their project at 12091221
Nelson Avenue, named Highbridge Heights Condominiums.
The developers modified their plans for the project to put in higherquality oak floors,
granite and marble in the entrances, highergrade domestic appliances, more moldings,
mirrored closet doors, fully tiled bathrooms and glass shower doors.
Since each apartment will have its own heating and hot water supply and the building
has a 15year tax abatement, the developers estimated the monthly maintenance costs,
including taxes and insurance, at only $125. They put total carrying costs at $1,550 a
month for a threebedroom unit, comparable to market rents at newer buildings in the
neighborhood.
Mr. Weissman said he believed that the condominium plan, now pending before the
New York attorney general's office, would catch on. There were dozens of inquiries
just two days after a ''condominium for sale'' sign was posted on the site. If demand is
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POSTINGS; New Condos Near Yankee Stadium http://query.nytimes.com/search/articleprintpage.html?res=9D07E0D7...
not adequate, the developer will market the seven buildings separately, at about
$650,000 each.
If this development works, the group plans to convert a 30unit South Bronx project
that it is working on into a condominium as well. Construction is to be completed by
fall. JOSH BARBANEL
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