New Photos of NYC’s First Residential Urban Farm at Urby Staten Island

Urban farms are nothing new to NYC, but the first one at a residential building is taking shape at Staten Island‘s Urby. The $250 million, 900-unit rental development is located on the borough’s North Shore waterfront, just minutes from the ferry, and is a collaboration between Ironstate Development and Dutch architecture and design firm Concrete. There will be 35,000 square feet of retail space, and though the units are quite nice and modern, it’s the health-centric amenities that really set this LEED-certified project apart.

Urby will offer an outdoor pool, a two-story fitness center, filtered communal well, landscaped courtyards with fire pits, a rooftop apiary with beehives, a 300-car garage with electric car chargers, and access to a waterfront esplanade. In the food department, there’s one of the city’s largest urban farms, which is employing New York’s first farmer-in-residence, as well as an on-site bodega, cafe, and communal test kitchen.

The 5,000-square-foot farm is already growing vegetables, which will be available to residents and used in the cafe. When complete, according to designboom, “the plot grows over 50 varieties of produce and includes a greenhouse and picnic tables for shared dining and composting.”

Other planned residential developments throughout the city are also jumping on the farm trend. ODA’s massive Rheingold Brewery project in Bushwick calls for a rooftop farm where tenants can grow and harvest produce, and Essex Crossing on the Lower East Side will have a farm that’s accessible to both residents and the local community.

The communal kitchen will host classes and chef tastings. Brendan Costello, formerly of Momofuku Ssam and Jeffrey’s Grocery, is Urby’s chef-in-residence.

The market-rate units (20 percent are affordable) include studios (starting at $1,940/month), one-bedrooms (from $2,255) and two-bedrooms (from $3,340). They have built-in storage, custom closets, in-home washer/dryers, and oversized windows.

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All images courtesy of Urby