Mott Haven not for fools

Lightstone’s $30M bet along the Harlem River

THE Lightstone Group is getting in on the Mott Haven apartment renaissance with a $30.05 million long-term lease for land along the Harlem River wa- terfront that is also in an Opportunity Zone.

The giant Bronx site at 475 Exterior St., aka 60 E. 149th St., stretches for 725 feet along the river between the 145th Street Bridge and an upcoming city park. A 764,000-square-foot project can be developed there, and it is likely slated for hundreds of rental apartments and local retail. (Condominiums are not built on rented land.) The zoning also allows schools, offices and hotels.

Lightstone declined to comment on the deal or its plans, but last year it purchased seven occupied Bronx rental buildings, as was reported by the Real Deal.

The site owner, River Edge Realty, an entity of Bronx County Recycling, bought it in 1992 for $6,400, and other city documents show it signed a 49-year lease with a 50-year extension in mid-January with Lightstone. The start date of the lease was not publicly recorded, and no one returned a message left at its Bronx offices.

A person who answered the phone at the location, New York Recycling, said it has a 20-year lease and has no relation to the landowner. The site owner, Salvatore

Cascino, at times has had a thorny relationship with Columbia County, where he owns 300 acres that the town contended were turned into a private dumping ground. Cascino had been in the town of Copake’s crosshairs since 2009 for alleged illegal construction as well as alleged dumping in wetlands and some other disputes, according to local media reports.

The land is in a rezoned area of the South Bronx that is prompting the construction of what could amount to thousands of new apartments. It is also creating a rush in The Bronx to buy and convert anything with good bones, especially in the Opportunity Zones, such as this one along the river, where some of the availabilities are located.

Along the same stretch of land — repped by an Ackman-Ziff team of Jason Meister, Marion Jones and Christopher Gillis — second-round offers were due last week on a 600,000square-foot buildable development site at 355 and 399 Exterior St., just south of the city park site.

This is also adjacent to the upcoming Brookfield apartment projects that straddle the 138th Street bridge to Manhattan.

Currently, the AckmanZiff team has contracts signed on 199 Lincoln Ave., 370 E. 149th St. and 3285 Third Ave., they said.

Other opportunities they are marketing include the warehouse where HBO’s “The Deuce” is wrapping up filming at 780 E. 135th St. that I told you about last month.

Also available are the adjacent 2535 Third Ave. and 260 E. 138th St., and 389 Rider Ave.

Nearby, a direct deal for the redeveloped Bronx Post Place I told you about in January is also in contract.

Since Opportunity Zone funds need to be invested soon to reap the most in tax benefits, both landowners and site buyers are hustling.

Stay tuned.

The Real Estate Board of New York is furious that the City Planning Department is forging ahead with plans to change zoning laws after at least one project has already been approved and underway while others are far into the pipeline.

The issue revolves around the use of “voids” for mechanical spaces that have no height limit or detailed rules.

These spaces have evolved as projects have become taller with some buildings, like 432 Park Ave., having several to allow wind to flow through while others are in place for elevators and chillers or to create better design.

There are around seven under construction or in planning with void sizes ranging from 80 to 190 feet high — and critics charge they are unsafe and merely used to raise the height of the apartments. Some of the cranky neighbors will also end up with shadows and blocked views.

One apparently caught the mayor’s wrath. This is an odd Rafael Viñoly de-

sign slated for 249 E. 62nd St. that resembles an observation tower and is proposed by an Orlando, Fla., firm. Meanwhile, Gary Bar

nett of Extell Development has long been planning a 775-foot-tall residential condominium tower on West 66th Street that will also house a synagogue in its base.

Its Snøhetta design calls for a 161-foot “void” between the 18th and 19th floors that includes fire department pump rooms and fire department storage tanks.

Exterior details such as setbacks and an outdoor garden break up the visual impact of the tower.

The building’s foundation was started with approvals for a different design. On Nov. 2, 2018, the Building Department issued full permits while zoning “challenges,” including objections to the “void” that were made by Upper West Side groups, were all rejected.

Work was underway when those plans were revoked by Buildings on Jan. 14, 2019, and Barnett was given 15 days to “justify” the height of the void — although there is no current restriction or law that he do so.

But now, NYC is rushing through changes.

At the end of January, City Planning released a 48-page zoning text amendment to limit the height of voids and began what the Real Estate Board of New York’s president, John Banks, calls an “expedited” 30-day referral to the community boards “to satisfy political objectives and not to ensure the complex issues … are thoughtfully considered.”

In its letter to Planning Director Marisa Lago dated Feb. 6, and reviewed by me, REBNY’s Banks asks for a 90-day extension for the hearing now scheduled for March 13.

“There is no need to delay this hearing. This voids-proposal is simple and targeted to specific neighborhoods. There is ample time for the public to digest and comment on it in the coming weeks,” a City Planning spokesperson told The Post.

The City Planning spokesperson also warns that launching “an expedited public review process with no apparent purpose other than to stop construction of certain as-of-right residential projects … sends a chilling message to owners, lenders and investors about their ability to rely on the law.”

Indeed, Extell founder and President Barnett’s loan documents require him to “not acquiesce in or consent to any change in any … zoning law or other … restriction.” “It could throw the loan out of balance,” expplained a prominent mortgage broker who asked to remain anonymous. Depending on the months of delays to the job, it could require Barnett to add equity or the lender to add funds and interest — or take other actions.

And such a law will give other lenders and developers pause once again and create further uncertainty about what the heck the city will come up with next that will affect investments to its vast real estate.