$121M NYC Affordable Housing Community Opens
Peninsula 1B is the first residential building to open at a planned mixed-use megaproject.
The Peninsula. Image courtesy of WXY Architecture + Urban Design and Body Lawson Associates
Gilbane Development Co., Hudson Cos. and Mutual Housing Association of New York have celebrated the opening of the $121 million Peninsula 1B affordable housing development in New York City.
The 183-unit community is the first building to open at The Peninsula, a mixed-use megaproject situated at the former site of the Spofford Juvenile Detention Center in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx.
New York City Mayor Adams cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony. Wells Fargo also helped finance the construction of this first building.
Shuttered by the city in 2011, after an extended period of protests over the unethical treatment of inmates, the Spofford Juvenile Detention Center has been transformed into 100 percent affordable housing. The project repurposed the existing infrastructure in a sustainable manner. Phase 1 of The Peninsula broke ground in November 2019.
All 183 units are set aside for households earning between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income, 18 of which will be occupied by formerly homeless families. These residential units are a mix of studio to four-bedrooms. Amenities at the new community include a community room, terrace, bike storage space, playroom, laundry room, fitness room as well as an outdoor seating area.
Bringing new light to a shameful past
Imagined as a 5-acre live-work campus, The Peninsula will comprise a total of 740 affordable units, along with landscaped open space, a wellness facility, childcare and a supermarket, upon completion. WXY Architecture + Urban Design and Body Lawson Associates Architects & Planners collaboratively designed The Peninsula. The Point CDC, Urban Health Plan and Community Board 2 are also among the joint venture’s local partners, according to prepared remarks by Aaron Koffman, managing principal of The Hudson Cos.
Ismene Speliotis, executive director at MHANY Management Inc., said in prepared remarks that aside from providing affordable housing for families, the association’s mission also includes providing economic opportunities for small businesses in Hunts Point.
New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYEDC) and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) selected the joint venture to develop this project back in 2015.
