MORRISANIA — A new affordable apartment building that includes $550 per month studio apartments — as well as units specifically designated for formerly homeless people on Medicaid — is slated to open in The Bronx by this summer.
The building, called Boston Road Residence and located at 1175 Boston Rd., will include 154 studio apartments, 60 of which will be affordable units with a monthly rent of $550 for people making between $18,000 and $35,280 per year.
The affordable apartments will be leased through a lottery. Fourty-six of them are meant for people 55 or older, and residents who live in Bronx Community Board 3, where the building is located, will receive preference for half of the units. Veterans will receive preference for the units as well.
The remaining 94 apartments will be for homeless individuals who use Medicaid often, and the project will include amenities like a fitness room, computer lab and garden.
Common Ground, an organization that works to address chronic homelessness in New York, is spearheading the project and expects to be done with construction this spring and have people move into the building this summer.
Applications for the affordable housing units must be sent out by March 27, and people can download them at www.commonground.org or call 212-624-1471 to request them.
Common Ground anticipates receiving 1,000 applications for the 60 apartments, according to Jeff Scheuer, vice president of external affairs for the group.
The project cost about $47 million and received support from the New York State Medicaid Redesign Team, which aims to help increase the amount of affordable housing throughout New York as a way to reduce health care costs.
Scheuer said Boston Road Residence would help revitalize and stabilize its community, as well as bring about 21 jobs to the area, including positions for maintenance workers and security staff.
"The building will enable its 154 residents to have a secure, affordable place to live and build productive, happy lives in The Bronx," he said, " ... and the building will create new job opportunities for the neighborhood."