Manhattan, NY A joint venture team of Douglaston Development and the Entertainment Community Fund (ECF) closed on the construction financing for Rialto West, an eight-story, 140,000 s/f, 158-unit 100% affordable multifamily development for low- and moderate-income residents located at 509 West 48th St. in Hell’s Kitchen. In addition to the residential apartments, the development’s ground floor will include more than 5,500 s/f of cultural space, as well as a public restroom facing a 25,000 s/f public plaza that will be built at 705 Tenth Ave. The public open space will be operated by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation for public use and is to be named after Lorraine Hansberry, the playwright and author of “A Raisin in the Sun”. Construction on both aspects of the $125 million project began in February.
Levine Builders, the general contracting affiliate of Douglaston Development, will construct the residential building and the public plaza. Clinton Management, the management affiliate of Douglaston will manage the building upon completion. The project is slated for final completion in 2026.
“Once complete, Rialto West will offer over 150 brand new affordable homes in a particularly high-cost area of New York City,” said HDC president Eric Enderlin. “HDC is proud to partner on this collaborative effort and look forward to delivering much-needed affordable housing to the Hell’s Kitchen community.”
“Rialto West represents a promise to create more affordable homes in high-cost Manhattan neighborhoods, ensuring that all New Yorkers, regardless of income, have access to safe, secure, and affordable homes,” said HPD commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. “We eagerly anticipate the 158 permanently affordable housing units that will soon welcome new families into this vibrant community, and we thank our partners for helping make this a reality.”
“We are thrilled to be expanding our footprint across Manhattan’s West Side, in partnership with The Entertainment Community Fund, and providing critical affordable housing and designated artist spaces to the community,” said Jeffrey Levine, chairman of Douglaston Development. “We look forward to advancing this exemplary project involving the many City entities that have banded together to deliver a much-needed affordable housing resource to our city.”
“Thanks to years of thoughtful planning from Community Board 4, strong support from city council member Erik Bottcher, former speaker Corey Johnson, and other elected officials, this project will create much-needed affordable housing to serve a wide range of income levels plus the adjacent public park named after the pioneering playwright and activist, Lorraine Hansberry,” said Daniel Arnow, executive director of the Actors Fund Housing Development Corp., a subsidiary of the Entertainment Community Fund. “We’re also excited to partner with IndieSpace as the Community Facility tenant who provides critical affordable workspace for artists and the creative community. With our deep roots in the neighborhood, we’re thrilled to be partnering with Douglaston Development on Rialto West and deliver this long-term community asset to Hell’s Kitchen.”
“It truly takes a village to build successful affordable housing in New York City. We are grateful to our incredible partners at NYC HPD, NYC HDC, NYC Department of Environmental Protection, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, FDNY, Amtrak, our elected and public officials at the city, state and federal level, our talented consultant team led by S9 Architecture, and so many others who made this milestone possible,” said Liz Oakley, executive vice president of affordable development at Douglaston. “This extraordinary coordination effort will bring critically needed, high-quality 100% permanently affordable housing, cultural and open space to a fantastic location in Hell’s Kitchen for generations to come.”
The New York City Housing Development Corp. (HDC) and NYC HPD provided a combined total of more than $106 million in a senior recycled tax-exempt bond funded loans and subsidy loans, including city housing infrastructure fund loan for the foundation platform overbuild spanning the active Amtrak Empire line at the residential building base, and grant funding for the plaza construction
Rialto West will deliver 158 permanently affordable housing units, a mix of studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units that will be available to low- to middle-income households earning up to 140% of the area median income (AMI). Fifteen percent of the units will be dedicated to serving formerly homeless households. Shared resident amenity spaces will include a fitness center, laundry room and bicycle storage area. The building’s ground floor will include approximately 5,500 s/f of cultural space. The JV owner team has been in discussions with Indie Space to lease and operate rehearsal and co-working spaces geared towards area artists, a resource often out of reach for many due to limited space and rental costs.
Rialto West delivers on the promise for affordable housing at the site made 15 years ago in the Western Railyards Rezoning Points of Agreement. The NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) issued a public Request for Proposals to develop two Hell’s Kitchen sites in 2018 and Douglaston was awarded the Rialto West site in February 2019. The development completed ULURP in October 2022.
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