Concourse Building Demolished

In the first major housing complex built on the Grand Concourse in decades, a 10-story building will rise where a former school was knocked down at Bedford Park Boulevard.

The squat building, most recently owned by Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, was half demolished as of early last week. Yoel Movtady, a Long Island marketing executive, purchased the site for $625,000 last fall.

The new development will house roughly 50 units of middle-income housing, predominantly two- and three-bedroom apartments with a few one-bedrooms. The first floor will include some commercial space, which Movtady hopes to rent to doctors or other professionals. A parking lot is permitted for the basement.

The building is still in the planning phases, and Movtady hasn’t yet devised a timeline for the construction. Build Tech Architects, who have designed many Bronx projects, are drawing up the building’s blueprint. They also designed an 8-story building slated to rise at Perry Avenue and East Gun Hill Road.

The complex is Movtady’s first real estate development. “I saw that this is an area that could be developed,” said Movtady, who came across the site about a year ago. “The building wasn’t being used … and there should be something built here. We want to bring new housing for families to the area.”

The structure was formerly home to the Bedford Park Academy, a private school, until Grace Lutheran bought it in 1981. The space hadn’t been actively used recently, with the school’s main site located around the corner on Valentine Avenue. Rev. James Gajadhar, Grace Lutheran’s pastor, did not return calls for comment.

The entire Grand Concourse, which was planned with a consistent architectural style, hasn’t seen a major new housing development in some 30 years, according to John Reilly, executive director of the Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation. “It’s a big change,” said Reilly, a lifelong Bronx resident. “There have been renovations and conversions, but I can’t think of any new [housing] construction.”

Given the site’s prominent location, Reilly hopes that the new building will be both attractive and affordable. He didn’t think a 10-story structure would necessarily tower over the surrounding apartments, which are mostly six and seven stories, due to newer construction trends toward shorter stories.

Movtady is toying with the idea of making the building into condominiums. “We are leaning toward ownership …. but we are still searching to see if there is a market,” he said.

Community District 7 as a whole has seen a spate of three-family homes constructed recently, reversing the long-standing trend toward rental apartments. “There has been a demand for private homes, so I guess there could be one [for condominiums] too,” Reilly said.

Movtady hopes so. “If this project is a success, we will try to develop more sites in the area,” he said.