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Whole-home renovation · The Bronx

Home renovation in the Bronx, planned around the house you own

We plan home renovation in the Bronx for owners of one- and two-family houses who want several rooms done as one project. Many of those houses are in the east and north Bronx, from Throggs Neck and Pelham Bay to City Island and Riverdale, where flood maps, private land cooperatives and historic districts can shape the plan.

  • Multi-room interiors for Bronx houses, not large apartment buildings
  • Flood-map lookup first for east Bronx and City Island addresses
  • Land co-op and historic-district rules found before the scope
Bright living room in an older house with tall windows, a white mantel fireplace, a curved sofa and a jute rug

Scope

Inside a Bronx whole-home project

The plan covers the interior of the house and puts every room into one order of work, so each area is opened only once.

  • Two or more rooms in a detached, attached or two-family house
  • Kitchen and bath work sequenced with the rest of the house
  • Ceilings, walls, trim and doors repaired or replaced to match
  • Flooring chosen level by level, with lower floors assessed for water
  • Electrical and plumbing upgrades, which may require appropriately licensed specialty contractors
  • One project lead and one schedule for the whole interior
  • Not offered: raising a house, structural work, additions or exterior work

Process

How MMA Construction & Remodeling runs a whole-home renovation project

Written scope, written proposal, permits identified up front, and one project lead from start to finish.

  1. Conversation

    You describe the home and what you want to change. We ask about budget range and timing so expectations are clear early.

  2. Site visit and scope

    We look at the space, the structure of the house and any HOA, co-op or condo rules that apply, then write a scope of work.

  3. Design and selections

    Layout, materials and fixtures are agreed in writing before work is priced in full.

  4. Written proposal

    A written price and schedule for the agreed scope. Permits and any approvals are identified at this stage.

  5. Build

    One project lead coordinates the trades and keeps you updated. Some regulated work may require appropriately licensed specialty contractors.

  6. Walkthrough

    We review the finished work with you and resolve anything outstanding.

The Bronx

What changes a whole-home plan in the Bronx

  1. Start from your neighborhood, not the borough average

    Only about one Bronx home in five is in a one- or two-family building; roughly 61% are in buildings of 20 or more units. In the Throgs Neck-Schuylerville area the picture reverses: about 69% of homes are in houses of one or two units, and roughly six in ten predate 1960. A whole-home project there usually means a mid-century or older house with original systems, so the plan leaves time to assess wiring and piping before finishes are chosen.

  2. Private land cooperatives in Throggs Neck

    Some Throggs Neck houses stand on land held by a cooperative. Edgewater Park is the example City Planning studied in 2015: residents own their houses outright but lease the land through shares, and a board of 15 members issues guidelines covering architecture and construction. If your house is in a community like this, the board's guidelines, delivery access on private streets and permitted working hours belong in the brief next to any DOB requirements. We ask for those rules in the first conversation.

  3. Flood exposure is concentrated in the east

    City Planning's 2017 figures, based on the 2015 preliminary maps, put 60% of the Bronx floodplain population and nearly 80% of the buildings in its floodplain in Community District 10, which takes in Throgs Neck and Co-op City. That is area context, not a reading for any one address. For a house in that district, look up the exact address on the FEMA and city flood maps first, and ask a design professional early how a large renovation is treated in a mapped area, before lower-floor rooms are scheduled.

  4. City Island and Riverdale: older stock and special districts

    On City Island, census estimates for the island's tract put roughly two-thirds of homes in buildings from 1939 or earlier, city lot data flags about three in ten house lots on FEMA's 2015 preliminary map, and the Special City Island District applies. In Riverdale, the Riverdale and Fieldston historic districts and a special natural area district cover parts of the neighborhood. None of this changes the rooms themselves, but each can affect access, staging and anything visible outside, so they are looked up for the exact address.

Planning several rooms in a Bronx house?

Share the neighborhood, the rooms on your list and whether a community board or a second household is involved. Our project lead plans the site visit around those answers.

Local evidence

Bronx housing, permits and flood data for house owners

Three Bronx statistical areas compared (census-tract sums of ACS 2020-2024 estimates)
NTAOne- or two-family buildingsBuilt 1939 or earlierBuilt before 1980
Riverdale-Spuyten Duyvil15.0%18.9%90.9%
Throgs Neck-Schuylerville68.9%30.3%80.5%
Pelham Bay-Country Club-City Island53.1%32.7%85.7%
Read these as neighborhood-scale profiles: each figure adds up census-tract estimates and leaves out margins of error, so it cannot speak for one block or one house.

Permits: the NYC Department of Buildings is the permit authority in every part of the Bronx. Painting, new cabinets and resurfaced floors are among the jobs DOB says can go ahead without a permit, and when the kitchen or bathroom work is more complex, plans may have to be filed by a licensed architect or engineer. Any contractor doing home improvement work in the city needs a license from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.

Older homes: about 76% of Bronx homes predate 1980. Any paid job that disturbs old paint in a house built before 1978 must follow EPA lead-safe rules. Local Law 1 of 2004 makes owners of rental units in pre-1960 buildings presume lead-based paint is present, and NYC owners must have a DEP-certified investigator survey for asbestos before work that may disturb it.

Landmarks: The Bronx has 13 historic districts on LPC's list, and individual landmarks are designated on their own, so the district list alone is not enough; LPC sends owners to its online map for the address-level answer.

Apartment owners: in a co-op or condo apartment, working hours, insurance requirements and approvals are usually set by the building's alteration agreement. Our whole-home service is planned for houses; for an apartment, start with a single room such as a Bronx kitchen or Bronx bathroom.

Planning a whole-home renovation in the Bronx? Call or email us to talk it through and arrange a consultation.

Call MMA Construction (516) 212-9311 Email us

Questions

Whole-home renovation in the Bronx: questions

Our Throggs Neck house is in a land cooperative. Who approves the renovation?
Expect two sets of requirements. The NYC Department of Buildings handles any filing the scope needs, and the community board may have its own architectural and construction guidelines, as City Planning describes for Edgewater Park. Ask the board for its written rules, working hours and delivery arrangements on private streets, and share them before the site visit so the schedule respects both. The Throggs Neck page has more background.
Is a City Island house harder to renovate than one on the mainland?
Not harder, but it needs more questions answered up front. Many City Island houses are old, about three in ten house lots are flagged on FEMA's 2015 preliminary map, and the island has its own special zoning district. For an interior project, that mostly affects lower-floor rooms, material choices and anything that would change the outside. The City Island page explains the local rules.
We own a Riverdale house near Fieldston. What should we look up first?
Put the exact address into LPC's online landmarks map, since the Riverdale and Fieldston historic districts cover parts of the area, and note whether the lot falls in the special natural area district mapped over parts of Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil and Fieldston. The rooms are the core of the project, but a staging area or container near slopes or trees deserves a check with the city first. The Riverdale page covers the details.
Will you renovate an entire co-op apartment in the Bronx?
Our whole-home service is planned for one- and two-family houses. In a large Bronx building, the alteration agreement and the board usually set working hours, insurance requirements and approvals, and the building may restrict moving plumbing. For an apartment, begin with a single-room project such as kitchen remodeling in the Bronx, with the building's alteration package ready for the first conversation.

Sources

  1. B25024 Units in Structure, Bronx County, ACS 2024 1-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter (2025 (ACS 2024 1-year release)). Accessed 2026-11-02.
  2. B25034 Year Structure Built, Bronx County, ACS 2024 1-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter (2025 (ACS 2024 1-year release)). Accessed 2026-11-02.
  3. Renovating Kitchens & Bathrooms, NYC Department of Buildings. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  4. Do I Need a Permit?, NYC Department of Buildings. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  5. License Checklist: Home Improvement Contractor, NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  6. FEMA Flood Map Service Center, Federal Emergency Management Agency. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  7. NYC Flood Maps, City of New York. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  8. Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program Rules, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  9. Lead-Based Paint, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  10. B25024 Units in Structure and B25034 Year Structure Built, census tracts, ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024), U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter API (ACS 2024 5-year release (acs2024_5yr)). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  11. 2020 Census Tracts to 2020 NTAs and CDTAs Equivalency, NYC Department of City Planning via NYC Open Data (rows updated 2021-09-20). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  12. 2020 Neighborhood Tabulation Areas (NTAs), NYC Department of City Planning via NYC Open Data (dataset (2020 NTA definitions)). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  13. Historic Districts: Bronx, NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. Accessed 2026-11-08.
  14. Flood Resilience Zoning Text Update: Throggs Neck Homeowners Association presentation, NYC Department of City Planning (2017-09-26). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  15. Resilient Neighborhoods: Edgewater Park, NYC Department of City Planning (October 2015). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  16. B25024 Units in Structure, B25034 Year Structure Built and B25003 Tenure, Census Tract 516.01, Bronx, ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024), U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter API (ACS 2024 5-year release (acs2024_5yr)). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  17. Primary Land Use Tax Lot Output (PLUTO), version 26v2 (dataset 64uk-42ks), NYC Department of City Planning via NYC Open Data (26v2 (rows updated 2026-08-24)). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  18. Zoning Resolution Article XI Chapter 2: Special City Island District (CD), sections 112-00 to 112-33 and Appendix A, NYC Department of City Planning / City Planning Commission (112-00 last amended 2011-02-02; 112-02 last amended 2021-05-12; 112-11 last amended 2024-12-05; chapter PDF generated 2026-10-30 (https://zr.planning.nyc.gov/sites/default/files/article/143/chapters/Chapter%202.pdf)). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  19. District Master Plan for the Fieldston Historic District, NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (Final, February 2014). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  20. Zoning Resolution 105-94 Special Natural Area Districts Specified (105-942 NA-2), NYC Department of City Planning / City Planning Commission (105-942 last amended 1975-05-21; PDF generated 2026-11-08). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  21. Landmark Status Letter, NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. Accessed 2026-11-08.
  22. Asbestos Abatement, NYC Department of Environmental Protection. Accessed 2026-11-02.

Talk to us about your renovation project in the Bronx

Call or email us to talk it through and arrange a consultation.