A century-old two-story house at 2019 Walton Avenue in Mount Hope is about to be wiped off the map, cleared to make room for a 17-story rental tower that would bring 159 new residences to a stretch of the Bronx already reshaping itself around the subway. The project, filed under developer Lazar Katz, would rise 176 feet tall between West Burnside Avenue and East 179th Street, just one block from the Burnside Avenue 4 train station.
According to New York YIMBY, the building would yield 119,602 square feet of residential space with an average unit scope of 752 square feet, suggesting the residences are likely to be rentals. The filing calls for a concrete-based structure with a cellar and a 20-foot-long rear yard, with Nikolai Katz Architect listed as architect of record. Demolition permits for the existing structure were filed in July 2026 by applicant Meilech Friedman of Blue Elm Inc., according to Marketproof, clearing the way for the site's two-story multi-family house, originally built in 1920 on a 50-by-100-foot lot, to come down entirely.
A Century-Old House Heads to the Wrecking Ball
That house had been on the market since September 2023, listed for $1.5 million before entering pending status, per Marketproof's records. Real estate intelligence platform PincusCo recorded that Katz formally submitted the new building construction project for the address on September 25, 2026, spanning two tax lots assembled for the development. PincusCo records also list Katz as a borrower on projects.
The site's appeal is tied heavily to transit. Beyond sitting one block from the Burnside Avenue station on the 4 line, the property is roughly 0.2 miles from the Tremont Avenue station, which connects to the B and D trains, Marketproof notes — giving future tenants a rare dual-corridor subway option in this part of the West Bronx.
One Architect, Many Towers Across Mount Hope
Nikolai Katz Architect has become one of the most prolific names behind this surge of West Bronx redevelopment. The firm filed 25 building permit applications citywide between March and July 2026, with 92 percent designated for residential use, Hoodline has reported previously. The Walton Avenue filing joins a wave of high-density proposals the firm is also designing nearby, including a 15-story, 99-residence tower at 29 Mount Hope Place and a 9-story, 73-unit building at 1712 Jerome Avenue.
The projects include multi-story proposals in the area near the 4 and B/D subway lines. No estimated completion date has been announced for the Walton Avenue project.
Renters Already Dominate, but So Does Rent Burden
The push for more rental housing lines up with how Mount Hope and neighboring Morris Heights already live. Census data for Bronx Community District 5, which covers both neighborhoods, shows 95.55 percent of housing units were renter-occupied in 2024, against just 4.45 percent owner-occupied, according to Data USA figures cited in Hoodline's earlier coverage of a nearby project.
Whether the Walton Avenue project will tap tax incentive mechanisms like 485-x or other city affordability programs remains an open question, as no financing or affordability breakdown has been disclosed.
Public safety is also part of the backdrop for new construction in the area. The NYPD's 46th Precinct, which oversees Mount Hope, recorded 120 major violent index offenses year-to-date through late July 2026, a 13.2 percent increase over the same stretch in 2025, Hoodline has reported.
The Walton Avenue filing adds to a string of recent Nikolai Katz-designed projects Hoodline has tracked across the borough, including a seven-story tower at 2302 Andrews Avenue in University Heights, a 12-story rental building in Belmont, and a 60-unit tower in Laconia. Together, the filings point to a single design firm reshaping streetscapes across several West Bronx neighborhoods nearly simultaneously.
