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).