Focus on affordable housing brings architects rewards - by Ariel Aufgang

My colleagues and I are very proud of our long track record designing affordable housing for New Yorkers. We recently began construction on Concourse Village West, a 265-unit affordable project, part of a three-site affordable housing development in the Fleetwood – Concourse Village neighborhood of the Bronx.

We take a “tenant-centric” design approach that emphasizes the features and amenities wanted by people seeking safe and comfortable new affordable homes. My team and I feel personally rewarded when families move in to affordable projects we’ve designed, in a way that emotionally transcends architects’ traditional pride in their work. Our focus is on the needs of families and individuals who will reside in these new buildings, most of whom will be moving out of older and undesirable housing. This goal brings strong meaning to our work.

In the past 20 years Aufgang Architects has designed 20,000 units of affordable housing in the five boroughs of NYC.

NYC’s mayor Bill deBlasio’s ambitious affordable housing program was recently described by Crain’s as “the most ambitious ever tried in the country,” and is “ahead of schedule and could benefit as many as half a million New Yorkers.”

The city’s strategy for workforce housing is well on its way to achieving its goal of 200,000 affordable units, including 80,000 new units, and affordability preserved on another 120,000 units.

NYC is fortunate to have extensive solidly built multifamily housing stock, including buildings dating back to the early 20th century or earlier, that are well suited for, and deserving of, preservation. Many are ideal to rehabilitate to provide appealing affordable housing to families and individuals qualifying under NYC programs. 

Established in 1971, Aufgang Architects is a full-service firm through the entire design and construction process. It is known for creative, cost effective and appealing design solutions that adhere to budget requirements. Its designs address the importance of energy conservation in an effort to mitigate their impact on the environment. Aufgang Architects is a NYS Certified Minority Business Enterprise.

Our affordable projects include:

• Victoria Theater: An adaptive reuse and preservation project on the site of Harlem’s historic Victoria Theater on West 125th St. The completed 400,000 s/f structure will have 191 mixed-income rental apartments, a 210-room Marriott Renaissance hotel, 25,000 s/f of retail and 25,000 s/f of cultural and arts space. 

• Beach Channel Senior Housing:  A 100% affordable mixed-use development in Far Rockaway, Queens, with 154 new apartment units for low-income seniors – 46 specifically reserved for the formerly homeless. 

• The Fountains, a 1,169-unit, 1.2 million s/f, mega development in East New York, Brooklyn.

Ariel Aufgang, AIA, is the principal of Aufgang Architects, LLC, Suffern, N.Y.