Stagg vows his units will be market rate

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Two developments on Broadway owned by the Stagg Group will not be used to provide transitional housing for the homeless, according to the group’s CEO Mark Stagg.

His statement comes in the wake of concerns among Community Board (CB) 8 members stemming from the Stagg Group’s reputation in other Bronx neighborhoods. Accounts that the developer attempted to build apartments for the homeless after applying to make ordinary affordable housing raised concerns that it would try the same bait-and-switch strategy here.

But in a recent interview with The Press, Mr. Stagg rejected those accounts.

“The whole bait-and-switch thing is preposterous,” he said. “The units are going to be market-rate units.”

CB 12 Chairman Father Robert Gorman previously said that in his district in 2012, the group applied for a 421a tax abatement, which provides a 25-year tax break when a developer dedicates 20 percent of units in a building to affordable housing.

Father Gorman claimed that after receiving the tax abatement, the developer went on to seek a contract with a non-profit called Acacia Network to turn properties into shelters for the homeless. 

According to Mr. Stagg, Acacia approached him about potentially providing transitional housing at a single development on White Plains Avenue, but the plan never went through.

The Stagg Group has also come under criticism from CB 8 Land Use Committee Chairman Charles Moerdler for failing to attend a meeting in June. The developer had been invited to explain its plans at 5959 and 6155 Broadway.

The Land Use Committee rejected the group’s request to begin construction earlier in the morning at the two sites at a subsequent meeting.

Mr. Stagg acknowledged his group’s absence and vowed better communication with CB 8 in the future.

“As we grow and as the company grows, some things fall through the cracks,” he said. “Potentially, my communication could be one of those things.”

He said a two-bedroom apartment will likely go for $1,300 to $1,350 to people eligible for affordable housing, while the market rate will be $2,000.

Broadway, Stagg Group, Mark Stagg, Father Robert Gorman, Charles Moerdler, Maya Rajamani
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