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Rezoning of key Bronx corridor may mean influx of apartments, taller buildings

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The Department of City Planning unveiled the rezoning proposal this week

Despite the backlash against planned rezoning efforts in Inwood and Sunnyside, the de Blasio administration is moving forward on what will likely be yet another controversial rezoning effort. This time, it’s a long stretch along Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, plans for which were unveiled this week, YIMBY reports.

The plan was first proposed in 2014, and the Department of City Planning was scheduled to present more concrete plans by September. The stretch of Jerome Avenue in question is largely occupied by auto repair shops, and a Village Voice feature this past July examined the effect such a rezoning would have on those businesses and the borough overall.

From what we know so far, the rezoning will pertain to a 73-block stretch along Jerome Avenue starting from McClellan Street on the south side and going up to 184th Street on the northern ed

Currently the area is zoned for commercial uses and could fit hotels, offices, retail or more of the existing industrial-type businesses. The rezoning would create mixed-use residential buildings with retail and community facilities. The city expects that the rezoning will create 3,250 apartments. The whole stretch will fall under the mandatory inclusionary housing policy, which means that developers will be required to offer at least a quarter of the building’s apartments as affordable units.

Plans also call for over 72,000 square feet of community space, and over 35,000 square feet of retail. For the most part buildings heights will be limited to 80-100 feet, but there are some exceptions. On Burnside and Tremont Avenues for example buildings will be able to reach 120 feet. Around McClellan Street on the southern end building will be even taller at 145 feet.

City officials had previously promised that the rezoning effort would be accompanied by improvements to the local infrastructure.