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MAP: See Planned Affordable Housing Developments Popping Up in The Bronx

By Eddie Small | January 21, 2015 8:37am
 SoBRO is working on several housing projects throughout The Bronx.
SoBRO Projects
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THE BRONX — Hundreds of new affordable housing units slated for construction over the next few years in The Bronx will cater to tenants ranging from artists to veterans to the homeless.

The economic development group SoBRO is spearheading new developments in neighborhoods from Mott Haven to Belmont to help the borough prosper.

"We encourage a mix of housing options but maintain that housing must remain affordable for Bronxites," said SoBRO President Phillip Morrow in a statement. "This housing creates communities where residents can live, work, and thrive — building a better Bronx.”

► Crotona Terrace, at 1825 Boston Road, will contain 185 apartments geared toward households making between $28,000 and $80,000 per year, as well as about 1,700 square feet of community space that will be used for a medical office or day care facility.

The eight-story development will also have roughly 15,000 square feet of commercial space, which organizers are still trying to figure out what to do with.

“We’re working to put out some surveys to see what the community wants,” said Michael Brady, SoBRO’s director of special projects. “And we’re also working very closely with Community Board 3 to see what they envision.”

Crotona Terrace is located on a roughly 50,000-square-foot site and will have 38 studio apartments, 40 one-bedrooms, 101 two-bedrooms and five three-bedrooms. SoBRO intends to be done with this project within the year and hopes to have people living in it by Christmas.

New Roads Plaza at the corner of Washington Avenue and East 164th Street will have 95 housing units, 60 percent of which will be for formerly homeless people with mental health issues.

The remaining units will be affordable housing for people earning up to 60 percent of the median income for the neighborhood, which was $83,900 for a family of four in New York City in 2014.

There will be space for recreational activities on the building's ground floor, and residents will have access to on-site services like high school equivalency courses, job training and college readiness programs.

“In Morrisania particularly, these services are essential,” said Brady.

New Roads Plaza will hopefully be finished within two years and cost $28.7 million. The site is about 12,500 square feet and includes 57 studio, 19 one-bedroom and 19 two-bedroom apartments.

► Betty's House, on its way to Mount Hope, is a project made up of about 23 residential units marketed toward artists who earn between 80 and 165 percent of AMI.

"We are taking aggressive steps to ensure that arts and culture are integrated into our major community and development initiatives," Brady said, "and this is an example of that."

The eight-story building will be on a roughly 4,000-square-foot site at the corner of Creston Avenue and East 179th Street. It will cost about $8 million and include 15 one-bedroom units and eight two-bedroom units.

► SoBRO is also working on a veterans' housing project at 4529 Park Ave. in Belmont, where residents will have access to on-site services like high school equivalency courses, college courses and connections to job programs.

The project, which includes 76 apartments, is on a roughly 11,000-square-foot site and will hopefully be done within two or three years.

"There are so many veterans that come back without places to live, without jobs, and they need our assistance," Brady said, "and this is one way of providing that."

► Additionally, a Mott Haven church will get the chance to expand once SoBRO finishes its Senda Apartments project at 506-510 Brook Ave., a development that will include 5,700 square feet for Senda de Bendicion Ministries on the ground floor and cellar.

Mario Olivero, pastor and president of Senda de Bendicion, said he was happy about the new space for his church, as it would provide him with more room to add a food pantry and soup kitchen.

"We fit about 75 people," he said. "Over there, we're going to fit about 300 people."

The six-story development should be done within three years and will also include 36 apartments affordable to people earning 50, 60 and 80 percent of AMI.

► Despite the group's name, SoBRO is also working on a roughly $50 million project in Washington Heights called Fort George Hill, which will include space for the new headquarters of Movimiento Mundial Church, where members will have a food pantry and day care center.

“Washington Heights/Dyckman is a stone’s throw from our usual target area, and it’s an opportunity to create some affordable housing, which I think folks need,” Brady said. “I think that everyone can agree that housing is an issue in New York.”

The 12-story building will go up on a roughly 20,000-square-foot vacant lot in Washington Heights at 1769 Fort George Hill and contain 113 apartments.

Fort George Hill will also include 57 underground parking spaces and a rooftop garden, and SoBRO hopes to have it finished within two years.