HPD, Elected Officials, Project Partners Break Ground on New Supportive Senior Housing in Mott Haven

Agency officials, elected officials and project partners break ground on a new 152 unit senior housing development in Mott Haven. Image Credit: HPD/Joseph Lara

The project will bring 152 units of affordable and supportive housing to the South Bronx. On September 10, 2019, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC), the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), and the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance/Homeless Housing and Assistance Corporation (OTDA/HHAC), elected officials and project partners broke ground on “Betances Residence,” a new senior housing project. The project is located at 443 East 142^nd Street between Willis and Brook Avenues in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx.

Betances Residence will have 152 apartments for formerly homeless and low-income senior households across two eight-story residential towers. There will be 22 one-bedroom apartments and 130 studios. Twenty-six units will have a preference for current NYCHA residents, which will allow senior citizens to continue to age-in-place in the affordable senior housing, freeing up their current NYCHA units to other families.

The building will be managed by Breaking Ground, which is the largest supportive housing provider for formerly homeless individuals in New York. Onsite social services will be provided by the Center for Urban Community Services, who have partnered with Breaking Ground for ten other projects. This project will be Breaking Ground’s seventh building in the Bronx.

The building will feature a 24-hour attended lobby, laundry room, digital library and computer lab, multipurpose room for events, terrace spaces and a landscaped courtyard. The building will also have 4,700 square feet of community facility space for the DreamYard Project, a Bronx-based non-profit for arts and education opportunities for underserved children.

Betances Residence will be constructed to meet Passive House energy efficiency standards. The building will have a tight envelope and engineered ventilation systems. The building also features natural materials, abundant natural light, and a courtyard garden.

Betances Residence will be financed with $58 million in tax-exempt bonds and subsidy from the Housing Development Corporation, $23 million in Senior Affordable Rental Apartments funds from HPD, $2.7 million in Homeless Housing and Assistance Program funds from the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance and $39 million in equity from the sale of Low-Income Housing tax Credits. Additionally, Council Member Diana Ayala helped secure $500,000 for the project and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. provided $250,000 in capital funds.

Council Member Diana Ayala stated, “. . . As rates of senior homelessness continue to rise, it is crucial that our city support projects like these.”

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr stated, “. . . The Betances Senior Residence will help keep longtime Bronx residents in their borough while also providing high-quality affordable housing units to one of our most vulnerable populations, and I am thrilled to support this project.”

HPD Commissioner Louise Carroll stated, “Access to safe, stable, and affordable housing can transform the lives of vulnerable populations like low-income seniors, families, and the formerly homeless. Thanks to our partners at Breaking Ground and our colleagues at NYCHA and HDC, hundreds of households will soon celebrate a new beginning when this affordable new construction is complete.”

According to the Breaking Ground website, the project is expected to be completed sometime in 2021.

By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School Graduate, Class of 2018).