Rendering of Timbale Terrace. image Credit: NYC HPD.
On November 29, 2023, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing for an application to create a mixed-use 100 percent affordable building at 101 East 118th Street in East Harlem. The proposed 19-story building, called Timbale Terrace, will also be the new home for Afro Latin Jazz Alliance. The site is currently a parking lot for the New York Police Department’s 25th Precinct. The application was presented by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
Timbale Terrace will have 340 affordable units, including 99 supportive units. The building will have 97 studios, 141 one-bedroom apartments, 85 two-bedroom apartments, 18 three-bedroom apartments, and one super’s unit. The proposed income distribution ranges between 30 to 80 percent area median income, not including the supportive units reserved for formerly homeless households. Supportive services will be provided by Lantern.
The building will have 24/7 security, three rooftop terraces, a fitness and cycling room, community room, community pantry, office suite and meeting rooms. On the street level, there will be a 18,996 foot square arts and culture space, which will be for the Afro-Jazz Alliance Music and Arts Center. The Center will host all of the Alliance’s performances and meeting spaces.
Both Manhattan Community Board 11 and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine conditionally approved the project.
Commissioner Juan Camilo Osorio commended the project for being a 19-story building that was designed to meet Passive House eco standards. Commissioner Lelia Bozorg asked about the anticipated length of construction for the project, which is expected to be two years. Commissioner Leah Goodridge asked about community pushback against the selected service provider after allegations that the provider had not been doing a good job at two other supportive housing buildings on the same block. According to the applicant team, they had heard some of those concerns early in the process but worked with community members and the NYPD to make a community advisory board and hadn’t heard many specific instances that needed to be addressed or corrected. The team was open to continuing working with the community to address any further quality of life issues that the neighborhood could experience.
Several members of the community testified in support of the application, highlighting the importance of supportive and affordable housing, and the positive impact the Afro-Jazz Alliance Music and Arts Center will have on the community.
The City Planning Commission will vote at a later date.
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the Editor of CityLand and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)