A slew of affordable housing projects are headed for an industrial slice of the central Bronx sandwiched between the Cross Bronx Expressway and the elevated subway tracks. The latest development to join the list is a 10-story affordable residential building for seniors at 1880 Boston Road, in a long-neglected neglected neighborhood known as West Farms.
The 172-foot-tall project would replace a squat, two-story medical building between Boston Road, Bryant Avenue, Longfellow Avenue, and the expressway, which runs in a cut below street level here in West Farms. The building would have 133,812 square feet of residential space, 32,415 square feet of community facilities, and 2,300 square feet of retail.
Medical offices, a non-profit, and the commercial space would fill the first floor, followed by 168 apartments. The average unit would come in at just under 800 square feet.
Some parking is included, likely to accommodate the medical offices. However, the developer no longer has to include parking for the affordable apartments, thanks to the mayor’s new zoning changes passed in March. Still, there will be a 27-car garage in the cellar and three off-street parking spots on the ground floor.
1880 Boston Road, rendering by SLCE
Mott Haven-based Foxy Management is developing the project with Alembic Community Development and the Hebrew Home For The Aged at Riverdale, and SLCE Architects applied for the permits. We’re not sure if SLCE created these renderings, which we discovered on the website for Foxy Management. The design seems pretty standard for affordable housing.
HPD is helping finance much of the $70 million project, using Section 8 subsidies, tax exempt bonds, and subsidies from the SARA program for affordable senior housing.
The 35,000-square-foot property last changed hands for the bargain price of $1,290,000 in 2009. Demolition plans have not yet been filed for the current building, which was finished in 2012.
Other projects coming to the neighborhood include affordable and supportive housing towers on West Farms Road, Phipps Houses’ ambitious plan to tear down and redevelop Lambert Houses, and an eight-story apartment building from Alma Realty.
Update: We have removed the original renderings from this post, which featured a large, dog-shaped topiary, and replaced them with updated images from the architects.
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Dog keep watching the building, and ignore train on track pass through everyday.
What the he11 is that setback on Longfellow Ave?
The question is how affordable will it be for seniors?
the term sheet for this HPD program forbids the developer from renting to incomes higher than 60% AMI, and given the amount of subsidy, I think these will be geared toward relatively low income folks. Tenants pay no more than 30% of their income in rent. http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/hpd/downloads/pdf/developers/term-sheets/snh-sara-term-sheet.pdf