Board 8 wary of developer’s tactics

Members of Community Board (CB) 8 fear a developer with an increasingly bad reputation in the Bronx could be trying to use its bait-and-switch playbook at two sites on Broadway.

Critics say in other parts of the borough, the Stagg Group has announced plans to build market-rate housing under a city program granting tax abatements if 20 percent of the units are set aside for lower income tenants — only to change the plans, build housing for the homeless, and reap even more benefits from the city.

CB 8’s Land Use Committee began to take a stand against the developer at its latest meeting, on Sept. 15.

After the Stagg Group ignored a request to appear before the panel in June to explain its plans for two sites, 5959 and 6155 Broadway, a company representative came to last week’s meeting to ask for permission to start construction at their sites at 7 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. on the weekend.

After lambasting the company for failing to come to the June meeting, board members unanimously voted against granting the permission.

“Communities throughout the Bronx… have found [the Stagg Group] extremely troublesome in terms of how they deal with the community and their responsibility,” Land Use Committee Chairman Charles Moerdler said in a phone interview. 

The Stagg Group did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The company’s website says it has built thousands of units throughout the Bronx and Westchester, maintaining “close ties to city, borough and charitable organizations who are committed to the development of affordable housing.”

In Riverdale, the Department of Buildings (DOB) gave the Stagg Group a permit to build a seven-story apartment complex at 6155 Broadway, the former site of The Riverdale Press. The plans included a commercial space at the ground floor and a community facility on the second floor.

In early September, the DOB also gave the group permission to build a six-story building at 5959 Broadway. The Stagg Group’s promise to price a fifth of its the units at affordable rates entitled it to generous tax breaks.