A vacant lot on Wales Avenue in Mott Haven is set to become a six-story residential building with 16 homes, according to new permit filings. The property at 524 Wales Avenue sits between East 147th Street and East 149th Street, placing it within walking distance of the East 149th Street subway station on the 6 line.
The filings describe a 58-foot-tall structure built from masonry, totaling 16,455.3 square feet of residential space, as reported by New York YIMBY. Mohammad Badaly of Badaly Architects is listed as architect of record, while Marin Lelcaj appears on the applications as the owner behind the project. The building is also designed with a 30-foot-long rear yard, per the same filings.
Because the lot is currently vacant, demolition permits likely will not be needed before construction can begin, the outlet notes. No estimated completion date has been announced for the project.
What Kind of Homes Are Coming
Dividing the proposed square footage across the planned unit count works out to an average of 1,028 square feet per residence — a scope that led New York YIMBY to estimate the units are likely to be condominiums rather than rentals, though that remains the publication's own estimate rather than a confirmed detail.
Part of a Bigger Building Boom
The Wales Avenue filing adds to a wave of new construction reshaping Mott Haven and neighboring Port Morris. New York City's Department of Buildings issued permits for 24 new developments across those two areas between 2021 and 2025, totaling more than 3,200 apartments, according to NY1. Looking back further, the city issued permits for more than 6,200 apartments in the area over the past decade, the station reports.
Much of that growth has taken a visibly upscale turn. Eleven luxury towers built by four different developers have risen on empty or former industrial lots near the Third Avenue Bridge, per NY1's reporting, in a neighborhood long counted among the city's poorest. About 70% of the units in those towers are market-rate, with the remaining 30% set aside as affordable, the station notes — a split reflected in rents that one resident described to NY1 as $3,100 a month for a one-bedroom at the Bankside buildings, while some three-bedroom units there go for as much as $7,000 a month.
Other recent filings show the pace of change continuing block by block. Permits were also filed this year for a six-story residential building at 576 Prospect Avenue in Mott Haven, while a separate proposal at 529 St. Ann's Avenue likewise involved a vacant lot where demolition permits were not expected to be required. Elsewhere in the neighborhood, a housing development at 351 Powers Avenue went through what 6sqft described as the fastest land-use approval process the area has seen in decades. Together, the filings point to a steady stream of new residential construction arriving in a neighborhood still adjusting to its changing skyline.
