199-unit supportive housing complex for seniors and families opens on the Upper West Side

A new supportive housing complex for low-income families and formerly homeless seniors officially opened on the Upper West Side this week. Located at 145 West 108th Street, the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing’s WSFSSH at West 108 provides 199 new homes for those in need and gives a new home to the Valley Lodge Shelter, a 110-bed development for homeless older adults. The 193,000-square-foot complex includes on-site supportive services and a wide variety of amenities for residents.

When the development was first announced in 2016, it was challenged by local residents who did not want it to replace affordable, city-owned parking garages. According to CityRealty, a group of residents formed Save Manhattan Valley after hearing they would lose more than 675 cheap parking spaces. The city approved the project in 2018.

As the West Side Rag reports, the complex opened last November, but its dedication was delayed because of Covid.

WSFSSH at West 108 features on-site social services for residents like case management, service coordination, crisis intervention, counseling, transportation, money management, nutrition guidance, free meals, and recreational activities, according to a press release.

The complex includes a new home for the Valley Lodge Shelter, a supportive housing development that has operated on West 108th Street since 1988. The development’s new home includes 110 beds for homeless seniors and adults, helping provide those in need with a stepping stone to get back on their feet and secure permanent housing.

Social services staff will offer programs for residents like art classes, outdoor exercise, and recreational activities hosted in the building’s backyard and terrace.

The complex features community space, including public restrooms in the adjacent Anibal Aviles Playground, parking spaces for Central Park Medical Unit ambulances, meeting space, and a community health center.

Designed by Dattner Architects and built by Procida-Butz, the communal spaces and residences were designed to promote a feeling of warmth and hospitality. Floor-to-ceiling windows can be found throughout the building’s lobby and communal spaces to bring in natural light.

The health center will be run by the Institute for Family Health, which will provide primary care and specialized services at low costs or free to supportive housing residents and other residents of the UWS community.

“New York City faces a decades-long housing crisis for which the city’s growing senior population is most at risk. WSFSSH at West 108 is a tremendous victory for the senior population on the Upper West Side, easing the housing burden with safe, beautiful homes for vulnerable members of our community,” Paul Freitag, executive director of the WSFSSH, said.

The housing complex is the winner of the 2022 Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Award in the Housing for Seniors category, and the Affordable Housing Finance 2022 Readers’ Choice Award in the Best Urban Development category.

“The city’s decades-long housing crisis, along with other challenges, have made it difficult for our most vulnerable communities and, especially, our seniors to secure a home WSFSSH’s 199 new affordable, permanent, supportive housing units for low-income families and formerly homeless seniors is vital to building a more just, equitable New York City,” Council Member Shaun Abreu said in a statement. “Ensuring our elders have access to affordable housing is just a small thanks for a lifetime of contribution.”

RELATED: 

• 153 apartments for low-income seniors available in central Bronx
• Lottery launches for 53 affordable studios for seniors at former illegal Upper West Side hotel
• Lottery opens for 32 low-income units designed for seniors in Hunts Point, from $1,487/month

All images courtesy of the WSFSSH