NEW YORK CITY– New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer and Housing Development Corporation (HDC) President Eric Enderlin announce the designation of the SustaiNYC, East 111th Street development site to a development team led by Jonathan Rose Companies and including L+M Development Partners and several community partners. The selected development proposal will become the largest passive house in the nation. It will be a mixed-use, highly sustainable development constructed in three phases that will bring 655 affordable apartments to the East Harlem community. Thanks to Mandatory Inclusionary Housing rules, 163 of the total 655 affordable apartments will be permanently affordable. The project also emphasizes deep affordability, with twenty percent of the total units serving extremely low-income households and nearly sixty percent of the total units serving low-income households. The development will feature 79 affordable apartments for seniors.
“Today we move forward with a plan for a dynamic, mixed-use development that will provide affordable homes, job opportunities, and vibrancy to the East Harlem community,” HPD Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer said. “With over 650 affordable apartments, including housing for seniors and the lowest income New Yorkers, space for a school, retail, community organizations, and public gardens, this proposal speaks to many of the priorities identified by the community for the site. I thank Speaker Mark-Viverito and Manhattan Borough President Brewer for their leadership, Community Board 11 for their insight, and commend Jonathan Rose and the development team for their commitment to MWBEs and local hiring in an innovative, energy-efficient development that will enrich the East Harlem community and foster a more sustainable city for generations to come.”
“This multi-faceted, passive house development in East Harlem will bring much-needed affordable housing to the community, while adding to the fabric of the neighborhood and the sustainability of our city," HDC President Eric Enderlin said. "We congratulate Jonathan Rose and the development team on this beautiful, energy-efficient design, and thank Manhattan Borough President Brewer, Speaker Mark-Viverito, and Community Board 11 for their commitment to creating a community-led vision for this site.”
“This development site represents a tremendous opportunity for the El Barrio/East Harlem community,” said New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “I look forward to reviewing this project in the coming months and to working with the development team, the administration and the community to ensure that it meets the goals outlined in the East Harlem Neighborhood Plan.”
“A little less than a year ago, the Manhattan Borough Board endorsed passive house standards and I called for a public passive house project on the island of Manhattan,” said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. “I’m excited that the city intends to pursue a 100 percent affordable passive house development on this site that preserves community garden space, and I look forward to reviewing the details during the formal land-use review.”
This city-block sized development will significantly advance the goals of Mayor de Blasio’s One City: Built to Last, which set out to reduce energy use in the city. Passive House is a building standard that significantly reduces a building’s energy consumption. This development is expected to use 60-70% less energy than a standard building of its kind. The development design will also integrate four existing community gardens in an effort to promote green spaces and activity, as well as preserve an important community resource. The development team will schedule a series of meetings with the gardeners of Mission Garden, Chenchitas Garden, Villa Santurce Jardinera, and Villa Santurce to design their new garden spaces and meet their needs.
"We and our community partners are so pleased to be have been selected to develop a comprehensive model of a community of opportunity in East Harlem, integrating green affordable and mixed income housing, community based health care, superb education, senior services, recreation, community gardens, and neighborhood serving retail,” said Jonathan F.P. Rose , President, Jonathan Rose Companies. “We are very grateful to Mayor de Blasio for his ambitious commitment to affordable housing and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito’s passionate commitment to East Harlem which gave rise to this visionary RFP.”
"Along with Jonathan Rose Companies and our community partners, we look forward to bringing more affordable housing and a mix of neighborhood-focused uses, including educational, recreational and social services to East Harlem," said Ron Moelis, CEO and Co-Founder of L+M Development Partners. "Our vision is one that combines mixed-income and senior housing, with green design and a new emphasis on health and wellness for residents and the wider community."
The original Request for Proposals (RFP) was created through a collaborative outreach effort by HPD, the Office of the Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, the Office of Borough President Gale Brewer, and Community Board 11, to engage community members around their vision for development on the East 111th Street Site. Consistent with the goals outlined through Community Visioning Workshops and the East Harlem Neighborhood Plan, over twenty percent of the apartments in this development will serve extremely low-income households earning a maximum of $19,050 for an individual and $24,480 for a household of three. The development plan offers deeper affordability by guaranteeing sixty percent of the apartments will serve low-income households with an individual earning no more than $38,100 and a household of three earning no more than $48,960 annually. The remaining units will be affordable to middle-income households earning up to $82,550 for an individual and $106,080 for a household of three.
In addition to 100% affordable housing, this development will include:
- A new Harlem RBI/Dream Charter School: Harlem RBI is a local non-profit organization that serves more than 1,700 youth with year-round academic, sports and enrichment programs in East Harlem and the South Bronx. The new DREAM Charter School will occupy 85,000 square feet of space. The school will utilize the rigorous academic program successfully deployed at its other locations that develops critical thinkers who demonstrate a love of learning, strong character, and a commitment to wellness and active citizenship. School facilities will include a cafeteria, access to two exercise pools and gymnasium, dance studio and classrooms, as well as access to the extensive public-private open space in this development’s central courtyard. The main entrance to the school will sit on the corner of E 112th Street and Park Avenue.
- A Union Settlement Community Space: Union Settlement is pillar for community services in the East Harlem community. The organization serves the residents of East Harlem through a wide array of programs, including: Early Childhood Education, Youth Programs, Adult Education, Senior Services, Mental Health, Small Business Development, and Policy and Advocacy. Union Settlement will be provided with 11,000 square feet of flexible space along East 111th Street. This community facility will also be conveniently located at the base of the building that includes the affordable units with a preference for a senior head of household.
- A new Harlem YMCA facility: A new YMCA facility will occupy 29,000 square feet with access to the inner courtyard. This YMCA Healthy Living Center will work in conjunction with Mount Sinai to provide medically integrated health and wellness programs to prevent and treat chronic illnesses. Their space will include gym and spa equipment, including therapeutic pools, and will support the project’s mission of creating healthy, vibrant communities.
- Mount Sinai East Harlem Community Health Center: In collaboration with the YMCA, Mount Sinai Hospital will open a wellness center at the development site that will provide the neighborhood with localized preventative care such as health coaching, cardiac rehab, stroke recovery, diabetes prevention, and weight loss and nutrition education. Providing these services at the community level will result in decreased hospital stays and emergency room visits, while increasing longevity and quality of life. This facility of 26,000 square feet will become the Mount Sinai East Harlem Community Health Center, and will be located a mere ten-minute walk away from the Mt. Sinai Arnhold Global Health Institute and Hospital, enabling a close working relationship between the main campus and the satellite location, providing more comprehensive community healthcare options.
- Urban Market: A fresh foods grocery store will occupy approximately 7,500 square feet of space along Madison Ave.
- Two Boots Pizza: The non-profit arm of Two Boots Pizza will launch its first fully operational community pizzeria. The profits of the pizzeria will go back to the non-profit entity to support community services such as job training and mentorship. Two Boots will also use this location for its Pizza Academy, which will provide locals and high school students with job training and placement opportunities in order to better prepare them for a job after graduation.
"Harlem RBI & DREAM Charter School are honored to be part of an all-star team that will not only rebuild a full City block, but will also provide a comprehensive collection of neighborhood assets and supports to provide East Harlem families with the opportunities they need to thrive. This great new place - to live, play, learn and grow - will be a model to rising communities everywhere,” said Richard Berlin, Executive Director, Harlem RBI. “We are grateful to the project leaders, Jonathan Rose Companies and L & M Development, for their partnership and trust, to Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito, who always stands up for the needs of the most vulnerable members of our community, and to Mayor de Blasio, for his belief in the power and potential of the children and families who will call Sendero Verde their home."
“Healthy lives begin with healthy communities. We must continue to look beyond the walls of our health centers and hospitals and into the communities where people live their daily lives. The Arnhold Institute for Global Health is honored to be a Sandero Verde project partner, which will advance our mission of anchoring healthcare to where people live and making Mount Sinai part of the neighborhoods we serve,” Prabhjot Singh, MD, PhD, Director, Arnhold Institute for Global Health, Chair, Department of Health System Design, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
“Mount Sinai is committed to investing in the communities where our patients live, which includes East Harlem. Our presence in the Sandero Verde complex will allow us to continue and expand our mission of delivering high-quality care where people live with the goal of improving health outcomes for patients,” Niyum Gandhi, Executive Vice President and Chief Population Health Officer, Mount Sinai Health System.
“Union Settlement is delighted to be part of the Sendero Verde project,” said David Nocenti, Executive Director of Union Settlement, the oldest and largest social service provider in East Harlem. “The development includes not just much-needed affordable housing, but also expanded educational, health and social services for the community, and we look forward to bringing our programs for youth and seniors to this location.
###
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is the nation’s largest municipal housing preservation and development agency. Its mission is to promote quality housing and diverse, thriving neighborhoods for New Yorkers through loan and development programs for new affordable housing, preservation of the affordability of the existing housing stock, enforcement of housing quality standards, and educational programs for tenants and building owners. HPD is tasked with fulfilling Mayor de Blasio’s Housing New York: A Five-Borough Ten-Year Plan to create and preserve 200,000 affordable units for New Yorkers at the very lowest incomes to those in the middle class. For more information visit www.nyc.gov/hpd and for regular updates on HPD news and services, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @NYCHousing.
About the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) is the nation’s largest municipal Housing Finance Agency and is charged with helping to finance the creation or preservation of affordable housing under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York plan. Since 2003, HDC has financed more than 120,000 housing units using over $13.7 billion in bonds, and provided in excess of $1.6 billion in subsidy from corporate reserves. HDC ranks among the nation’s top issuers of mortgage revenue bonds for affordable multi-family housing on Thomson Reuter’s annual list of multi-family bond issuers. In each of the last four consecutive years, HDC’s annual bond issuance has surpassed $1 billion. For additional information, visit: http://www.nychdc.com
