Hot Bay Ridge real estate market gets hotter

January 8, 2020 Paula Katinas
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Plans call for eight-story buildings on Third Avenue

BAY RIDGE — The far western corner of Bay Ridge is about to undergo a major change, the latest indication that the neighborhood’s hot real estate market is getting hotter by the minute.

Plans for two separate construction projects to be built on the same Third Avenue block have been filed with the New York City Department of Buildings.

A developer plans to demolish three one-family homes at 9952, 9956 and 9960 Third Ave. and construct an eight-story residential building at that site. Separately, the owner of a one-family home at 9964 Third Ave., a dwelling located next door to 9960 Third Ave., has filed paperwork with DOB to build an eight-story residential dwelling on his property.

DOB has not yet given approval for either of these two projects, said Abigail Kunitz, deputy press secretary for the agency.

But if the projects eventually get the go-ahead from DOB, it would mean that four one-family homes on a single block are going to be torn down.

New York YIMBY was the first to report on the plans for the two new buildings.

Josephine Beckmann, district manager of Community Board 10 in Bay Ridge, said both construction projects fall within the parameters of the city zoning laws governing the area and can be built “as of right” once all the DOB approvals are in.

The building to be constructed on the site where 9952, 9956 and 9960 Third Ave. currently stand is expected to contain 40 apartments, New York YIMBY reported. The owner is the Narrows LLC, a company located in Sheepshead Bay.

Demolition permits have been filed with DOB to tear down the existing buildings.

The property at 9964 Third Ave. is owned by Victor Gribenko, according to records Board 10 shared with the Home Reporter.

The new building going up at the site will also be eight-stories tall, but will contain only 13 apartments, New York YIMBY reported.

An application filed with DOB on Dec. 19 to construct the new building was rejected after the application was found to be incomplete, Kunitz said. But she added that it’s not unusual for initial building plans to be rejected. “It is common for new building projects to undergo several rounds of plan examinations before a completed application is submitted,” she told the Home Reporter in an email.

While the property owners are required to submit their plans to DOB for approval, they are not obligated to appear before the local community board to seek approval, Beckmann said. “They don’t have to come to the board,” she told the Home Reporter.

Still, the two projects have generated a great deal of curiosity and concern from neighbors living in this cozy corner of Bay Ridge that sits beneath the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.

“Our office has received numerous phone calls from residents who have questions about what is allowed to be built there,” Beckmann said.

The area has not been completely devoid of development up to now. In fact, the four homes to be demolished are sandwiched between two six-story apartment buildings that sit on each end of the block of Third Avenue between 99th and 101st streets.

When Bay Ridge was rezoned by the city several years ago to save the neighborhood from overdevelopment, officials at the time did take into consideration that some large-scale housing would be needed and that it would not have been wise to ban all development, according to Beckmann.

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