A developer who is hoping to rezone Arthur Avenue and bring a hotel and affordable housing to Belmont received full support from the Community Board 6 Land Use and Housing Committee earlier this month.
On Dec. 17, Harry Bajraktari of Bajraktari Management Corporation gave a presentation to the committee on a proposed ULURP for a 145 room hotel on 188th Street and Arthur Avenue and a 7-story, 56-unit residential building on 188th Street and Hughes Avenue. The developer laid out plans to rezone the area from a residential zone to mixed residential and commercial zone.
“This is our vision for a project on Arthur Ave.,” Bajraktari said. “I am looking forward to building this project.”
The plans call for the construction of a 13-story hotel with 72,027 square feet that will feature active ground-floor uses, outdoor amenity space and 128 accessory parking spaces.
The second building will have 52,667 square feet of residential floor area, 17 permanently affordable units and 28 accessory parking spaces.
Bajraktari said that the new hotel will create jobs in Belmont and the Bronx at large, while also resulting in an increased customer base for Arthur Avenue stores and restaurants and an increased sales tax revenue.
Additionally, the developer said that the project would present opportunities for partnerships between the hotel and local businesses, 231 direct construction jobs and 58 permanent jobs.
Although there are approximately 10 buildings located within a one-mile radius of the project — all of which are classified as hotels — only three operate as hotels with hotel services and none are located on Arthur Avenue.
Chair of the CB6 Housing and Land Use Committee Frank Franz expressed his full support for the plan.
“We’ve been trying to get a quality hotel in the community for the last 20 years,” Franz said. “We have a personal relationship with Harry Bajraktari. We trust him and this project. We think this can be a boom to the Bronx.”
