Robert A.M. Stern will design affordable Bronx building with 40 apartments for sale
Rendering courtesy of Robert A.M. Stern Architects
About a month after Robert A.M. Stern’s affordable rental building opened in Brooklyn, the renowned architect’s firm has been tapped to design another residential development designated for low-income New Yorkers. The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development last week announced a project to bring 40 homeownership opportunities to a new 8-story building in the Bronx, which will be designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) and developed in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity, Camber Property Group, Almat Urban, and Interboro Community Land Trust. The building, located near Claremont Park, will have apartments that are affordable to families of three earning up to $93,000 annually.
Located at 1640-1642 Anthony Avenue, the 100 percent affordable development falls under the city’s Jerome Avenue Rezoning, which was approved by the City Council in 2018. The rezoning, which covers two miles of Jerome Avenue between 167th Street and 184th Street and, aims to preserve and create thousands of permanently affordable homes in the area, in addition to improving parks and pedestrian space.
The project, which will rise on a vacant city-owned lot, is the first time a team proposing a Community Land Trust (CLT) model for homeownership has been selected by HPD. In A CLT, a nonprofit group sells or rents housing that has been built on empty city land to lower-income New Yorkers. This helps preserve the building’s long-term affordability.
The eight-story building will contain 20 one-bedrooms, 16 two-bedrooms, and four three-bedrooms, all of which will have a balcony and in-unit washer-dryer. They will remain affordable to households earning up to $93,000 for a family of three.
Residents can enjoy amenities like a rear yard, community room, gym, and hydroponic center. Plus, homeownership education and assistance will be provided to first-time home buyers and residents whose applications have been rejected.
According to a press release, RAMA designed the building “to connect to the Bronx’s rich architectural history.” Most homes will exceed HPD’s design guidelines for unit size.
RAMSA is known for designing upscale condo buildings, including 220 Central Park South and 15 Central Park West; the first affordable building in New York City designed by the firm opened in July in Brownsville. Called Edwin’s Place the project includes 125 units of affordable and supportive housing set aside for formerly homeless families and low-income New Yorkers.
“Thanks to this plan, forty families will get the opportunity to buy a home and live the American dream. We know that affordable homeownership is an important vehicle for building family wealth and giving communities a greater stake in their neighborhoods,” HPD Commissioner Louise Carroll said. “Through the transformation of the Anthony Avenue site into affordable housing, we are making good on our commitments to the community in the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan.”
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