425 Grand Concourse rendering - Bronx, NYBronx, NY Mayor Bill de Blasio, the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and NYC Housing Development Corporation (HDC) has selected a development team for the former site of P.S. 31, at 425 Grand Concourse, in the Mott Haven neighborhood. A joint venture between Trinity Financial, Inc. and MBD Community Housing Corporation (MBD), the development team, and Dattner Architects, were selected through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process to build a 100% affordable building.
The team’s high-quality, mixed-use and mixed-income development plan includes the creation of 241 units of housing affordable to low and moderate-income families. The gracefully curving 24-story tower will be designed to passive house standards, currently one of the largest passive house projects planned for North America to date, and will consume significantly less energy than a conventional housing project. The three-story base will house a charter school, medical facility, and cultural and community spaces, including a social services facility, as well as a supermarket.
de Blasio said, “This beautifully designed and sustainable affordable housing proposal for Mott Haven, near one of our city’s important institutions of higher learning and on the former site of an historic neighborhood school, will be home to hundreds of low and moderate-income families, while also providing a supermarket, other retail space and also community services to the neighborhood. We welcome this proposal as a wonderful addition to our growing affordable housing portfolio – and a model for all housing development in New York’s future.”
The team’s integrated approach to sustainable design will result in an exemplary building that is resilient and will aim to achieve a low carbon footprint by adhering to passive house standards. Through a holistic passive house approach, the development will implement high efficiency building systems with an air-tight building envelope, energy recovery ventilation and other features to significantly reduce heat loss and gain. The project will both meet and surpass the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria and will incorporate NYC Active Design Guidelines, to encourage opportunities for physical activity.
As a gateway to the historic Grand Concourse, one of the borough’s great boulevards, the new development will anchor this important corner and enhance the Mott Haven neighborhood. The project balances the critical need to provide affordable homes for New Yorkers and the desire for high-quality, attractive architecture that promotes street activity and provides sweeping views. The tower’s curved profile creates a signature design with accents breaking the tower’s vertical rise. Historic architectural features of the school are incorporated into the design of the new building. The development also includes a new, accessible walkway as part of the Garrison Playground.
HPD commissioner Vicki Been congratulated the winning team “on what will be a vibrant addition to the Mott Haven community, and a major step forward in our efforts to reduce energy use in the city,” calling the proposal “an impressive and dynamic design that will benefit local businesses, residents, and the wider community by offering an upgraded Garrison Playground, a school, medical facility, and space for a variety of cultural and community centers, among other amenities. This is exactly the kind of project mayor de Blasio envisioned when he launched the Housing New York Plan and OneNYC because it will provide safe and healthy facilities for both living and learning.”
“Dattner Architects is enthusiastic to be part of the development team for this exciting mixed use project. 425 Grand Concourse will advance the design of affordable housing in NYC. The project will be a significant addition to the Mott Haven neighborhood in the Bronx and a gateway to the historic Grand Concourse. Planned as the first affordable, high-rise, multifamily project in New York City that will target passive house performance standards, sustainable design will be deeply integrated into all aspects of the project and ‘raise the bar’ for healthy, sustainable, urban living,” said John Woelfling AIA, principal, Dattner Architects.
This high performance project will reduce the energy bills of the residents, community organizations and commercial tenants of 425 Grand Concourse. With strong solar access to the south, the project team will explore installing a rooftop solar PV system to generate electricity on site.
Sign up is quick, easy, & FREE.