Rendering of proposed new nine-story building at the corner of Brook Avenue and East 156th Street in the Bronx. Image Credit: CPC/Dattner Architects.
The development seeks to activate the streetscape in the area by removing the existing dangerous condition posed by a long-abandoned railroad trench. On March 27, 2019, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on an application by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and developer Phipps Houses that will bring 54 units of affordable housing to the Melrose neighborhood of the Bronx. The application calls for the disposition of City-owned property, a rezoning, the grant of a special permit and designation of the proposed development site as Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, Option 1. The development site is located at the corner of East 156th Street and Brook Avenue, across from Via Verde, a relatively recent environmentally-conscious residential complex, also built by Phipps Houses. (read more…)
Lambert Houses. Image Credit: Google Maps.
UPDATE: On November 29, 2016, the City Council voted 49-0 to approve the Lambert Houses application with modification. The approved application now includes the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing option with deep affordability—half of the apartments will now be affordable for those making 30 percent or less of the average median income. The City has committed $12.3 million for infrastructure improvements in the West Farms area, including the construction of two new schools in the area—adding at least 500 new school seats to the school district. Of the project, City Council Member Ritchie Torres said, “It will offer deeper affordability, significant infrastructure improvements and community upgrades that will benefit all of the residents of the West Farms neighborhood in the Bronx.” (read more…)
Image Credit: Google Maps
Phipps Houses withdrew its application for its ten-story, Barnett Avenue development following a lack of community support. On September 20, 2016, Phipps Houses, the oldest and largest not-for-profit developer of affordable housing in New York City, withdrew its Barnett Avenue development proposal—the day before its scheduled public hearing in front of the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises. Phipps Houses had sought a zoning map change and two zoning text amendments to facilitate the construction of a new mixed-use development in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Queens. (read more…)
Three-building project on former railway site will include 141 affordable rental apartments. On April 6, 2011, the City Council approved a proposal by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to allow Phipps Houses to develop a three-building affordable housing project on two vacant through-block lots in the East Tremont section of the Bronx. Phipps will construct an eight-story residential building and a ten-story mixed-use building at 1155 East Tremont Avenue, and a ten-story mixed-use building across the street at 1176 East Tremont Avenue. The project will provide 141 rental units marketed to households earning up to 60 percent of the area median income.
The City-owned lots were once occupied by the now-defunct elevated New York, Westchester, and Boston Interurban Railway. Remnants of the railway’s train trestle remain on both lots. The surrounding area is characterized by five- to six-story tenement buildings, older multi-unit homes, and vacant lots. The area’s underlying M1-1 zoning prohibits residential uses, which caused HPD in October 2010 to apply to BSA for use variances to facilitate the project. 7 CityLand 169 (Dec. 2010). HPD’s current proposal included a request for a UDAAP designation and special permits to build on a railroad right-of-way. (read more…)
- Courtlandt Crescent/Melrose Commons. Image: Courtesy of HPD.
Project will include two connected buildings and more than 200 units of low- and moderate-income housing. The City Council approved the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s proposal to allow Phipps Houses to build a 217-unit affordable housing project in the Melrose section of the Bronx. The two-building development, known as Courtlandt Crescent, will wrap around the northeast portion of a block bounded by East 161st and East 162nd Streets and Melrose and Courtlandt Avenues.
The project will include 22 studios, 59 one-bedroom apartments, 115 two-bedroom apartments, and 21 three-bedroom apartments. The apartments will be marketed to families earning up to 60 percent of the area median income. Phipps will provide an underground parking garage and space for a 10,000 sq.ft. early childhood center administered by the City’s Administration for Children’s Services. HPD requested that the City replace the site’s R7-2 zoning with R7A and R8/C1-4 districts and amend the height and setback rules of the Melrose Commons Urban Renewal Plan. (read more…)
Two-building project would create 217 units of affordable housing. On February 16, 2011, the City Planning Commission approved a proposal by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to allow Phipps Houses to develop a 217-unit mixed-use affordable housing project in the Melrose section of the Bronx. The site comprises ten lots on a block generally bounded by East 163rd Street to the north, East 162nd Street to the south, Melrose Avenue to the east, and Courtlandt Avenue to the west.
The project, known as Courtlandt Crescent, would include a seven-story building along East 163rd Street and Courtlandt Avenue that would follow the curve of those streets, and a ten-story L-shaped building with frontages along Melrose Avenue and East 162nd Street that would step down to seven stories along East 162nd Street. (read more…)
