Image Credit: CetraRuddy/S9Architects/HPD
The new buildings will provide affordable housing, space for businesses, and social services from partnering non-profits in the Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen community. On February 13, 2019, Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer announced the selection of development teams to build approximately 260 affordable housing units on two City-owned sites in the Clinton and Hell’s Kitchen neighborhoods of Midtown Manhattan. The sites were identified for development into affordable housing through the Hudson Yards Plan, a comprehensive proposal to develop Manhattan’s Far West side. The two developments were approved following HPD’s Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen request for proposal (RFP) for the two sites. One building will be located at 806 9th Avenue (the Ninth Avenue site) and the other building will be located at 705 10th Avenue (the Tenth Avenue site).
Rending of the Ninth Avenue Development/Image Credit: CetraRuddy/HPD
The new Ninth Avenue building, which was designed by CetraRuddy, will have approximately 100 units of affordable and supportive housing for very low and low-income households with units also set aside for the formerly homeless. The building will have approximately 11,000 square feet of retail space along Ninth Avenue that will be occupied by a Housing Works thrift shop. The building will also have office space for New York City Transit with below grade parking for emergency vehicles. The Ninth Avenue site will be developed by two developers, Hudson Companies and Housing Works, Inc., a New York City based non-profit that provides supportive housing, healthcare, and a range of social services.
Rendering of the Tenth Avenue Development/Image Credit: S9Architects/HPD
The Tenth Avenue building, designed by S9 Architects, will have approximately 160 affordable units for very low, low, and moderate-income households and units set aside for the formerly homeless. The building’s ground floor will have an arts-oriented community space operated by Spaceworks, a non-profit organization that builds and operates subsidized creative work space across the City. The ground floor will also have a public restroom and an adjacent open space developed by the Department of Parks and Recreation. The Tenth Avenue site will be developed by Douglaston Development and The Actors Fund, a nonprofit that provides housing, social services, health care and insurance counseling, and secondary employment and training services for people in the performing arts and entertainment.
The developments are part of the City’s Housing New York 2.0 plan to finance 300,000 affordable homes by 2026. As a part of the plan, HPD has accelerated the request for proposal pipeline for the remaining sites within its inventory of vacant land suitable for residential development, and other public sites identified for affordable housing development. This resulted in the City approving request for proposals for 72 projects in 206 public sites, creating more than 11,000 affordable homes.
“In selecting these development proposals for these critical sites in Hell’s Kitchen, we aren’t just bringing more than 250 new affordable homes to Manhattan, we’re adding vital community space and providing critically needed services to some of our city’s most vulnerable residents to help them lead high quality, fulfilling lives,” said HPD Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer.
“These 100 [percent] affordable housing developments in Hell’s Kitchen are a long time in the making, and we need them now more than ever. These two projects will create desperately needed affordable housing for a wide range of residents, from very low income to moderate income households. Given the severe homelessness and affordability crises we face as a City, these two projects are all the more essential,” said New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson.
By: May Vutrapongvatana (May is a CityLaw Intern and a New York Law School Student, Class of 2019).