The groundbreaking at the Woodhull Hospital campus for the Comunilife Throop Residence. Image Credit: HPD.
On April 27, 2023, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and NYC Health + Hospitals celebrated the groundbreaking for the Comunilife Throop Residence, a new 93-unit apartment building at 171 Throop Avenue at the NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull campus in Brooklyn.
Of the building’s 93 units, 56 will serve as supportive housing for Woodhull patients experiencing homelessness. These residents will receive services from Comunilife and health care from Woodhull Hospital. For the remaining units, 21 will be affordable housing for extremely low-income seniors, 15 will be affordable units for low-income New Yorkers, and one unit will be reserved as a super’s unit.
The building is expected to open in late 2024. The project is the second phase of affordable and supportive housing to be created on the Woodhull campus. Woodhull Residence, at 179 Throop Avenue, opened in 2019 with 89 units of affordable and supportive housing. The projects are part of the Housing for Health initiative, a commitment to create almost 650 new affordable homes on NYC Health + Hospital campuses.
The Comunilife Throop Residence will have 24-hour security, a community room, laundry, a computer room, and a bike room. It will connect to the first resident through the first floor and share a commercial kitchen, community space, and a back garden.
NYC Health + Hospitals contributed the land through a 99-year ground lease. The $41.5 million project is financed by HPD’s Supportive Housing Loan Program, a $14.6 million subsidy from the City, $500,000 Reso A funds from the Brooklyn Borough President, $15.5 million in NYC Low Income Tax Credits, and a $7.5 million loan from Webster Bank.
Mitchell Katz, MD, NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO stated, “The evidence is undeniable that stable housing allows patients to better manage their health. NYC Health + Hospitals is in the business of caring for our patients, and that extends to finding them a permanent place to live. Today, we’re using our land to create nearly 100 new apartments on our campus at NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull. We hope health care systems nationwide follow suit.”
Gregory Calliste, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull, stated, “On behalf of Woodhull’s staff, patients and community, I express our thanks and appreciation to Comunilife for their vision and dedication to this Comunilife 2 Building project. The partnership between NYC Health + Hospitals, Woodhull, Comunilife, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), and the other partners has been solid. Our joint shared commitment to addressing the problem of homelessness for the underprivileged population of this community has helped us to overcome obstacles to make this a reality. The Comunilife 1 project has been extremely successful in this regard and we expect continued success of this objective with this second building which should be completed by the end of 2024.”
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)