Breaking Ground Opens 1st Affordable Community
Designed by COOKFOX Architects, Park House is an $86 million, 248-unit project in the Bronx, built to accommodate low- and very low-income families.
By Laura Calugar
Non-profit organization Breaking Ground (formerly known as Common Ground) and its partners celebrated the opening of Park House, a 248-unit affordable housing project in the Bronx. The 243,760-square-foot community is the organization’s first ground-up affordable asset. COOKFOX Architects is the designer of the $86 million project.
Located at 4275 Park Ave., Park House was built on a formerly vacant industrial plot. Breaking Ground acquired the site in 2014, with a bridge loan from the New York City Acquisition Fund and the Low Income Investment Fund. The community is part of Bronx’s Tremont neighborhood. Designed to achieve Enterprise Green certification, the 12-story community features one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Forty units are permanently affordable. Amenities include bicycle storage, parking and a landscaped courtyard. The ground floor houses a community room and laundry. Park House is equipped with boilers, energy-efficient lighting fixtures and controls, water-saving fixtures and fittings, EnergyStar appliances and extensive green roof areas with drought-resistant plantings.
Fighting against homelessness
Since 1990, Breaking Ground has been serving individuals living on the streets. The organizations works to confront New York City’s affordable housing crisis, with nearly 1,500 supportive and affordable apartments in its development pipeline.
The JPMorgan Chase Foundation provided a grant to Park House, allowing for an extensive green roof system that increases the sustainability of the building. The New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance and the Homeless Housing and Assistance Program, the New York City Housing Development Corp., the Federal Home Loan Bank, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the New York State Office of Mental Health, the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York/Astoria Bank and Wells Fargo were also involved in the public-private partnership.
Parks House was built next to Webster Supportive Housing, another multifamily project designed by COOKFOX Architects and is planned for completion in early 2018. The community will feature an additional 170 affordable units. Recently, LIHC Investment Group, Belveron Partners and Camber Property Group also committed to preserve the Bronx’s affordable housing by renovating 948 affordable units at Stevenson Commons.
Images courtesy of COOKFOX Architects
