Meltzer/Mandl completes design of 91-unit Pelham Parkway Towers: A $22 million project

Meltzer/Mandl Architects has completed the design of Pelham Parkway Towers, a 91-unit affordable housing development at 1600 Pelham Pwy. South in the Morris Park section, according to Marvin Meltzer, AIA, president of the firm. The seven-story building, situated in an established, middle-income community, will consist of apartments ranging from studios to three bedrooms, and a parking garage with 53 spaces. The estimated project cost is $22 million. "This was not a simple complex to design," said Meltzer. "Because it's an L-shaped, nine-sided site, and adjacent to the Metro North rail corridor (as well as an unused - but not de-mapped street - Bassett Ave.), dealing with challenges such as noise abatement, lot coverage and compliance with legal light-and-air requirements was more difficult than usual." As a result, successful completion of the development entailed an extensive review (and consensus-building) process with the local area Community Board (CB#11), said the architect. Pelham Parkway Towers will be a publicly-funded development, through the New York City Department of Housing and Preservation Development (HPD). Project team members include the following: the developer of Pelham Parkway Towers, LLC; the general contractor is MJM Construction Services; the M/E/P engineer is TSF Engineering, P.C.; and the structural engineer is Severud Associates. Another challenge was the particularly high water table, which had to be taken into account during the design of the parking garage at and below street level. According to Meltzer, this led to a less expensive project "because any construction that touches ground water must resist hydrostatic forces that push upward and destabilize the building and foundation. In this instance, we knew we had to deliver a certain amount of parking for the project and found a solution that kept the building away from the ground water table." Building amenities will include a 6,000 s/f community facility space, bike storage, a gym and recreation space on the roof terraces. The site is adjacent to a former manufacturing district, which was recently re-zoned to encourage the creation of a new multifamily housing and mixed-use development. Construction will begin when financing is finalized late this year. The project is anticipated to be completed in 2013.