It’s been a year since YIMBY revealed plans to develop two affordable rental buildings next to Thessalonia Baptist Church in Morrisania, in the South Bronx. Now, new building applications have been filed for the first piece of the project at 960 Prospect Avenue.
The seven-story building will rise on an empty lot between East 164th and East 165th streets, only a few short blocks from the Intervale stop on the 2 and 5 trains. It’ll have 54 apartments divided across 49,836 square feet of residential space, for units averaging 922 square feet.
The second building, at 961 Reverend James A. Polite Avenue, will rise eight stories and hold 66 apartments. The pair will bring 120 apartments to the neighborhood – 38 one-bedrooms, 76 two-bedrooms, and six three-bedrooms – affordable to families making less than 60 percent of the Area Median Income. That amounts to $46,620 for a family of three.
Together, the buildings will be known as Thessalonia Manor, after the church that leased their land for the development.
Each building will have bike storage in the cellar, laundry on the first floor, and a common room on the third floor.
The plans also include parking for 68 cars, spread between the first two floors in the eastern building on Rev. James A. Polite Avenue. We hope the developers decide to scrap the parking, because it’s no longer required for affordable projects. The City Council passed the mayor’s big package of zoning changes for affordable housing last month, and now affordable and senior developments within half a mile of the subway are (usually) exempt from building parking.
Urban Builders Collaborative and CMC Development are co-developing the complex, and James McCullar Architecture is responsible for the design.
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I wonder whether the parking is for the church, and not for residents? This is a big church with prominent members including Bronx DA Darcel Clark. I wouldn’t be surprised if membership isn’t spread out to Mount Vernon and New Rochelle. Although there are transit options for these suburbanites, such as MetroNorth Harlem Line to Melrose station or taking Bee-Line Bus to the 2/5 terminus, I bet these suburbanites already have cars and expect to drive there. And bus service on weekends in the suburbs is basically non-existent.
I don’t recall the developer saying anything about that. But that seems totally possible. Could be half for residents and half for the church.
Morrisania was removed from the area where parking minimums were eliminated while in the city council. I’m not exactly sure what street is the boundary of this corden though.
Extremely stupid decision (thank the neighborhoods local reps), especially considering the number of buildings that will be built in the area.
That’s incorrect. Melrose was removed, Morrisania was not. http://labs.council.nyc/land-use/mih-zqa/resources/transit-zone-text-map.pdf