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Living In

A Changing Skyline Beckons Buyers

HIGH AND HIGHER Condos like the Solaria, left, are altering Riverdale’s look, giving newcomers more choice but angering some longtime residents.Credit...Librado Romero?The New York Times

WHEN Annette Gaudino returned to New York and started house-hunting last year, she had focus. Thirteen years in varied living situations in San Francisco had attuned her to exactly what she wanted: a one-bedroom apartment for under $300,000, and not in one of those new condominium buildings with the smallish rooms; also, the neighborhood had to have things to do and offer a relatively easy commute.

She ended up in Riverdale, right next door to Kingsbridge, the Bronx neighborhood where she grew up. It seems Ms. Gaudino, 40, who moved into her new apartment in March, could go home again, and she is not the only one. As couples and young families make their way north of the Harlem River and discover the comparative bargains and calm that Riverdale offers, they are also finding a greater selection: With all the new residential buildings under construction, this large neighborhood hasn’t buzzed so much since Mark Twain took up residence in 1901.

“It’s Riverdale’s compactness, its relative affordability compared to Manhattan, and high pent-up demand,” said Bradford Trebach, an associate broker for Trebach Realty.

The $225,000 price on Ms. Gaudino’s one-bedroom co-op surprised her after the extremes of San Francisco’s market. The place has a sunken living room, a large bedroom and lots of light. She appreciates the quick trip to Yankee Stadium; tours the gardens at Wave Hill, Twain’s onetime estate; and takes friends to Nonno Tony’s, a classic Italian restaurant on West 235th Street.

“Part of it was familiarity,” said Ms. Gaudino, a laboratory technician at Columbia University. “I just knew it was such a nice area. It’s really green, and it’s a very easy commute to the city. I knew I was priced out of Brooklyn, and out of any part of Manhattan I wanted to live in.”

Aside from Riverdale’s mix of large houses and affordable co-ops, there are the new condo buildings — about a dozen in all. The Solaria, the largest at 20 stories, will be ready for occupancy by year’s end and will offer a rooftop telescope observatory. Since Labor Day, 20 percent of the units have sold, according to Marisa Long, spokeswoman for the building.

The developments vary substantially in size. The Danielle, on Blackstone Avenue, has just 12 units, compared to the Solaria’s 65. Structures already complete include Promenade East on Oxford Avenue, seven stories of red brick with balconies. There is also the Waterford on Waldo Avenue, perched on a hill that overlooks the Bronx. It is offering Brazilian hardwood floors, central air-conditioning and washer-dryer units, with prices starting at $569,000.

Though new buyers seem interested in the condo boom, current residents do not necessarily favor it. Stop-work orders have been issued for two projects under construction, Westwood Terrace and Cambridge Mews, and a group of local residents is fighting developers of multifamily projects every step of the way.

“It’s just becoming Manhattanized,” said Manny Grossman, 33, a lifelong Riverdale resident and a member of Community Board 8. “These buildings are going to take away the very character that people who buy into Riverdale want to achieve.” Of the buildings on which work has stalled, he said: “No one knows what’s going to happen. They’re just sitting there half done.”

Opposition or not, however, the skyline is changing with the construction, and a diverse array of housing styles is becoming more so.

“We have houses, we have small estates, we have large homes, we have co-ops, we have condominiums, we have rentals,” said Susan Goldy of Susan E. Goldy Inc., a local agency. “These different sizes and price points enable different values for people, especially from the city.”

What You’ll Find

At three square miles, Riverdale is a sort of miniborough, comprising several neighborhoods within a strip of the Bronx stretching from the Harlem River to Westchester County, wedged between the Hudson River and Van Cortlandt Park. From north to south, they are: North Riverdale, Fieldston, Central Riverdale, South Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil.

Each subsection has its defining characteristics. With the exception of wealthy Fieldston, each has its share of high- and low-rise brick apartment buildings, many plotted along the winding course of the Henry Hudson Parkway. Most date from the 1950’s and 60’s, though there are occasional prewar examples.

The new condo towers are concentrated in South Riverdale, near the Fieldston enclave, which has been declared a landmark. Most are in walking distance of a commercial district along West 235th Street, Johnson Avenue and Riverdale Avenue, where one can find drugstores, pizza joints, banks, salons and diners.

West of the Hudson Parkway, beyond a few typically suburban streets and blocks of apartment buildings, Riverdale becomes idyllic, its winding, sidewalk-free roads dotted with maples and oaks. Its terrain can offer stunning views, like those from houses on the wooded bluff that is Independence Avenue. The ambience is reminiscent of an Adirondack village, and the sudden appearance of a taxi or a police car is a shock.

What You’ll Pay

Setting aside the new luxury condominium units, prices seem to have stabilized compared to a year ago, and inventory of available property, once much more scarce, is growing.

“In Riverdale, the market seems to have leveled off somewhat,” Mr. Trebach said, adding: “It’s taking a little longer to make deals. If you asked me about the market last year, I would have said I’m very optimistic. This year I say I’m cautiously optimistic.”

Nevertheless, compared to five years ago, prices in Riverdale have doubled, said Susan Lynne Seidner Chasky, a senior vice president with Halstead Property who lives in the neighborhood. According to Mr. Trebach, bidding wars still occur and most full asking prices are met. He said his company had recently sold a partially renovated seven-bedroom house on a cul-de-sac west of the Hudson Parkway for $2.5 million.

As for new condos, at Arlington Heights, a five-story building of dark red brick, the two remaining units displayed on its Web site are 1,100-square-foot two-bedrooms for $549,900. At the Solaria, units will include one- to five-bedroom apartments, and prices will start at $770,000.

In co-op sales, Ms. Goldy said, her firm recently sold two-bedroom apartments in the $500,000 range and one-bedrooms at $200,000 to $300,000. In general, according to Mr. Trebach, three-bedrooms sell from $400,000 to $975,000, with two-bedrooms from $275,000 to $700,000. House prices typically begin in the $600,000 range and head skyward, to $3 million and above.

Rentals begin at around $1,200 a month for a one-bedroom and reach $3,900 for a three-bedroom.

What to Do

In August 2005, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg opened the Riverdale Riverfront Promenade and Fishing Access Site, a piece of land between the Riverdale Metro-North station and the Hudson River, with views of the Palisades and three platforms for casting lures.

When it comes to outdoor spaces, Van Cortlandt Park is larger than Central Park, with many fields and a golf course. In North Riverdale there is Wave Hill, which once — before Twain — was the summer home of Theodore Roosevelt. It draws visitors the year round, with gardens, cultural center and greenhouses.

There are a few groceries, a Target in nearby Kingsbridge and a Costco less than 10 miles up Interstate 87. The nearest movie theater to Riverdale is a few subway stops away in Washington Heights.

The Commute

Though it is farther from Midtown than Upper Manhattan neighborhoods like Inwood and Washington Heights, the commute from Riverdale can be slightly faster, via the Metro-North Railroad, which stops along the Hudson River in Spuyten Duyvil and North Riverdale. The trip to Grand Central Terminal takes about 25 minutes, though the stations are somewhat out of the way; Hudson Rail Link buses to the stations from various Riverdale stops are $2. By subway, Riverdale residents can use the No. 1, which takes about 40 minutes to get to 42nd Street. The BxM1 and 2 express buses stop at several locations in Riverdale and arrive in Midtown in 45 minutes to an hour. The fare is $5.

The Schools

Riverdale’s schools have an excellent reputation. There are two public elementaries: Public School 81, on Riverdale Avenue, and Public School 24 on West 236th Street, which is the better performing, with 85.4 percent of students meeting standards tests in English language arts in 2005, versus 60.9 percent citywide. In math it was 84.4 percent, as compared with 65.1 percent citywide.

The Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy on West 237th Street houses both Middle School 141 and High School 141. In the middle school, 60.4 percent of students met standards in city and state tests in English language arts in 2005, as compared with 48.9 percent citywide; in math, 47.6 percent did so, versus 45.3 percent citywide. High school students had SAT averages of 428 on verbal and 441 in math in 2004-2005, versus 497 and 511 statewide.

On the private side, the neighborhood’s accomplished schools are often a high priority for newer families. At the Horace Mann School on West 246th Street, annual tuition from kindergarten through Grade 12 for this year is $29,110. The Riverdale Country School on Fieldston Road charges $26,000 for kindergarten through Grade 5 and $31,200 for Grades 6 through 12. At the Fieldston School, also on Fieldston Road, tuition for Grades 1 through 6 is $26,895; for Grades 7 through 12 it is $28,545.

The History

The onetime Riverdale-on-Hudson was not always part of the Bronx; until 1874 it was in Westchester. Home since 1843 to Wave Hill, which was built by a lawyer named William Lewis Morris, Riverdale slowly morphed into an area of estates for city big shots. More modest houses began appearing after the arrival of the Hudson River Railroad in 1853. That was followed, in 1936, by the Henry Hudson Bridge, which opened the area to a broader slice of life.

What We Like

Community spirit is more than evident. Cars sport “Go Jaspers” banners in support of Manhattan College in Fieldston, and people stop to chat with anyone from neighbors to Hudson Rail Link bus drivers.

Going Forward

Some in the community wonder how the neighborhood’s small-scale commercial areas will handle all the residents of the new condominiums.

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