
Rendering of 244 East 106th Street. Image Credit: HPD/Ascendant Neighborhood Development.
On July 12, 2023, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing for a new supportive housing development at 244 East 106th Street in East Harlem. The site is currently a vacant lot on the south side of East 106th Street between Second and Third Avenues. The building is part of the ShareNYC pilot program where the city is exploring the creation and implementation of shared housing. Shared housing consists of housing units with two or more independently occupied rooms with a common kitchen and bathrooms. (more…)

The rendering of the New Providence Redevelopment. Image Credit: NYC CPC/HPD/DHS.
The new shelter replaces an existing shelter on site. On February 16, 2022, the City Planning Commission voted to approve an application from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and Department of Homeless Services (DHS) that will facilitate the construction of a new 21-story building that will provide supportive and affordable housing along with an emergency shelter at 225 East 45th Street in East Midtown. The new building will replace the existing women’s shelter which is currently retrofitted into two buildings. The proposed building can be constructed as-of-right, but still requires public review as it is a City-owned site. (more…)

The rendering of the New Providence Redevelopment. Image Credit: NYC CPC/HPD/DHS.
The new building will allow Project Renewal to continue to operate its shelter while also offering permanent supportive and affordable housing. On January 19, 2022, the City Planning Commission heard an application from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and Department of Homeless Services (DHS) to facilitate the construction of a new 21-story building at 225 East 45th Street in East Midtown. The new building, which will provide supportive and affordable housing and an emergency shelter would replace an existing women’s shelter that is retrofitted into two buildings. Project Renewal currently operates the existing shelter, and is partnered with DHS for this application. (more…)

- El Rio Residence on East 179th Street. Image: Courtesy of Gran Kriegel Associates Architects + Planners.
Disposition of City-owned property will facilitate development of eightstory, 65-unit project for low-income seniors and special needs residents. On October 19, 2011, the City Planning Commission approved the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s proposal to facilitate the construction of a 65-unit supportive housing project, known as El Rio Residence, in the West Farms section of the Bronx. Comunilife Inc., a non-profit health care agency, plans to develop the eight-story project on a 2,200 sq.ft. portion of a City-owned lot next to a building at 2064 Boston Road owned by Comunilife. The site is two blocks from the Bronx Zoo and the Bronx River Art Center. To facilitate the project, HPD requested permission to dispose of the property to Comunilife.
El Rio Residence would provide 29 affordable studio apartments for low-income seniors and 36 studios for seniors with mental illness. The project would include a 2,422 sq.ft. landscaped open space and a multipurpose room. Supportive services, including a communal kitchen and laundry room, would occupy the building’s ground floor.
Bronx Community Board 6 and Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. supported the proposal. No one opposed the proposal at the Commission’s October 5 public hearing, and the Commission unanimously approved the plan.
CPC: El Rio Residence (C 110365 HAX – UDAAP and dispo.) (Oct. 19, 2011) (Architect: Gran Kriegel Associates Architects + Planners).
New project would house women transitioning from shelters or hospitals; opponents expressed concerns about project’s impact on neighborhood. On August 25, 2010, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s proposal to allow Providence House to develop a six-story, 26-unit supportive housing project at 329 Lincoln Road in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens section of Brooklyn. Providence House, established by the Sisters of Saint Joseph, provides supportive and transitional housing for homeless and formerly institutionalized women. HPD recently demolished a four-story building on the site that had remained vacant for thirty years.
Providence House would provide twenty apartments to single women transitioning from shelters and hospitals. Five units would be marketed to low-income single women earning less than 60 percent of the area’s median income, and one unit would be occupied by the building’s superintendent. To facilitate the project, HPD requested permission to dispose of the City-owned property and applied for a special permit allowing an increase in the building’s maximum floor area. (more…)