Fordham Landing Megaproject Plods Forward

Hello, let’s get into today’s news at the intersection of real estate and policy:

• Dynamic Star’s Brad Zackson is dragging forward the troubled Fordham Landing megaproject in the Bronx.
• The City Council is poised to reauthorize an expanded J-51 tax break today.
• Council Member Frank Morano has an unlikely ally in his push for an easy-to-use portal for landlords with tenants receiving city rental subsidies.

In this edition we mention: Dynamic Star’s Brad Zackson and Gary Segal, Namdar Realty Group’s Igal Namdar, City Council members Pierina Sanchez, Frank Morano and Crystal Hudson, Department of Social Services Commissioner Erin Dalton and others.

We Heard

• Megaproject movement: Dynamic Star’s Brad Zackson is trying to drag the embattled Fordham Landing megaproject forward, even as the firm has put entities controlling the site into bankruptcy — twice. The City Planning Commission on Wednesday certified an application filed late last year by Zackson, kicking off the city’s land use review process, for a commercial overlay to allow an 11,000-square-foot supermarket as part of the Bronx project, because commercial uses aren’t currently allowed under the parcel’s residential zoning. Fordham Landing is poised to be one of the largest new affordable housing developments in New York City in decades. It’s set to be built in two sections. In the north phase, Dynamic Star planned to construct a 2.7 million-square-foot development with 4,000 units of affordable housing, along with office and retail. In the south phase, the project consisted of over 900 units of affordable housing. The commercial overlay relates to the project’s southern section. The timing of the incremental update is odd. Zackson and his Dynamic Star partner, Gary Segal, are locked in a fight for control of the megaproject with Namdar Realty Group’s Igal Namdar. Segal accused the investor of seeking to push out the partners by acquiring a defaulted loan and attempting to foreclose on the property. Late last year, Zackson put Dynamic Star into bankruptcy after Cremac Asset Management alleged the developer had defaulted on a $55 million and a $18.9 million loan, and initiated a non-judicial foreclosure. The bankruptcy was dismissed in February and the foreclosure process started for both planned phases of the megadevelopment. But in March, a New York state judge ruled that Namdar could not block the bankruptcy. One day before the foreclosure auction was scheduled, Dynamic Star refiled to put the entities controlling Fordham Landing’s two phases into bankruptcy, halting the foreclosures and sending the legal battle to federal court. At this point, the timeline for the Fordham Landing megaproject is unclear. Dynamic Star did not immediately return a request for comment.
• J-51 returns: The City Council is set to reauthorize and expand a tax break for multifamily, co-op and condo owners to help offset the cost of building upgrades, people briefed on the bill but not authorized to speak publicly told The Real Deal. The Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings is expected to approve a bill reviving the J-51 program, sponsored by Council member Pierina Sanchez, with the full Council to follow. The measure has 32 sponsors — five more than the 26 votes needed for passage. Albany revamped J-51 in this year’s state budget, boosting the value of the tax break and expanding eligibility to co-ops and condos. But lawmakers stopped short of raising the rent-stabilization threshold. The Council bill would codify the changes locally, allowing owners to claim the benefit for projects including boiler replacements, facade work and climate-friendly upgrades. The tax break’s changes would make an additional 4,200 co-op and condo buildings, representing more than 94,000 units, eligible for the abatement, according to analysis by climate policy nonprofit the Green Co-op Council. The Council’s speedy approval marks a contrast with the last version of J-51. After Albany approved that program in 2023, the Council took more than a year to enact it locally, drawing criticism from property owners and state lawmakers for the delay. This time, J-51 comes with a longer runway of 10 years, compared with the more typical four-year window. The extended timeline is designed in part to account for the lengthy local approval process that can delay owners’ access to the tax break. The program would take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
• Odd couple: Republican Council Member Frank Morano has found an unlikely ally for his bill to create a centralized online portal for landlords with tenants receiving city rental subsidies: progressive Democrat Crystal Hudson, chair of the Council’s Committee on General Welfare. “We probably don’t agree on every housing issue, but we agree on this one: when the city promises to pay somebody’s rent, it should actually pay the rent,” said Morano during a Tuesday committee hearing. “I don’t think that’s a particularly radical proposition,” he added. Hudson’s backing could prove consequential. As committee chair, she has significant influence over the bill’s fate. The legislation would require the city’s Department of Social Services to launch a landlord portal by the start of 2027. The site would allow property owners to upload paperwork, enroll in electronic payments and track down delayed checks. The city supports the goal of a user-friendly portal, pointing to two existing online platforms that allow landlords to access some of the features Morano’s bill would require; the administration ultimately aims to integrate those systems, said Department of Social Services Commissioner Erin Dalton. But agency staffers “do not believe it would be feasible” to launch a centralized portal by 2027, said Dalton. “I appreciate you being candid about that,” said Morano. “But this isn’t a request to build a spaceship. We’re talking about uploading documents, tracking payments and resolving complaints and functions that exist in other online services.” Pressed by Morano, Dalton did not offer an alternative timeline.

Have a tip or feedback? Reach me at caroline.spivack@therealdeal.com.

Bill Tracker

The Catch-Up
The city-owned 100 Gold Street redevelopment is moving forward, now with 8 percent more housing units, reports TRD’s Lilah Burke.

The Bryant Park Grill will remain open for at least several more months after an appeals court barred its landlord from moving ahead with eviction proceedings, reports Crain’s.

Trump and Mamdani are only the latest politicians to step into the century-long development headache that is Sunnyside Yard, reports NY1.

The Kicker

“We should have been on to the next one. The jobs were there. The training was there. The money, you know, everything was there.” 

 — John Dunderdale, business manager of Pile Drivers Local Union 56, on the collapse of local offshore wind projects creating headwinds for the state’s boom of training programs.