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South Bronx

Photographs: Shane Bar-On and Jackie Johnston

The area that real-estate brokers want you to call Sobro is starting to take shape. In formerly desolate neighborhoods like Mott Haven, abandoned warehouses and factories are being turned into condos, and antique stores, restaurants and bars are moving in. And it’s all just one stop into the Bronx on the 6 train.

“Mott Haven is attracting people from the East Village and Williamsburg,” says Eric Del Valle, managing director of sales at Chadwick Realty Group, citing one-bedroom apartments for $1,000 to $1,200 a month, with some units in rent-stabilized buildings available in the $850 range. “They’re drawn by the lower rents, but they also appreciate a neighborhood that still looks like the Meatpacking District did several years ago.”

That’s not to say a similar trajectory would be an entirely a good thing—look what happened to the MPD. And Mott Haven won’t necessarily go that way—look what didn’t happen to Red Hook. But it’s something to think about: If you move up to Mott Haven, you are a pioneer, yes, but you’re also part of the gentrification process.

Bill Buckley, an art director who bought a co-op on the concourse near Yankee Stadium about a year and a half ago, says he likes living in a place that still has some rough edges, but is also on the upswing. “This is an area that used to have a bad reputation, but I’ve never felt unsafe,” he says. “And they’re really remaking the place—the new stadium is supposed to open in 2009, and they’re building a huge mall nearby.” He adds that the city has also upgraded the Grand Concourse, widening the roads and sidewalks and installing planters and antique streetlights. That gives his one-bedroom apartment, bought for $90,000 and already worth about a third more, an attractive upgrade as well.