Bronx Affordable Community Opens Doors

425 Grand Concourse. Image courtesy of Trinity Financial

A 277-unit, fully affordable community dubbed 425 Grand Concourse has officially opened its doors in The Bronx. The 26-story building features 310,000 square feet of mixed-use and mixed-income housing space. Co-developers Trinity Financial and MBD Community Housing Corp., together with Monadnock Construction and Dattner Architects, completed the $178 million project that is also the largest passive house in North America.

“425 Grand Concourse provides visually stunning green spaces and much-needed affordable housing, healthcare, food, cultural programming space and other on-site resources that will reinvigorate this historic community,” Thomas Brown, vice president of development at Trinity Financial, told Multi-Housing News. “We thank our co-developer MBD Community Housing Corp., and our partners at the City of New York for working alongside us to bring this project to fruition.”

A community-centered development

The Grand Concourse community took shape on a parcel formerly occupied by P.S. 31, a Bronx institution originally built in 1899. The building fell into extreme disrepair and was closed in 1997. Only in 2015, New York City issued a request for proposals to redevelop the property as affordable housing and selected the Trinity Financial/MBD partnership for this undertaking.

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The newly completed 425 Grand Concourse caters to tenants earning from less than 30 to 130 percent of the area median income. The building encompasses a mix of studio, one-, two-, three-bedrooms units ranging between 378 and 984 square feet, including apartments targeted for previously homeless individuals. Common-area amenities feature a fitness center, working spaces, a resident lounge and meeting room, a skyview terrace and laundry facilities.

The property also includes a 29,000-square-foot educational facility for Hostos Community College’s branch of the CUNY Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) program. A 1,200-square-foot space on the ground floor will act as a cultural center, while a supermarket will provide fresh and affordable produce and groceries. In addition, Damian Family Care Centers will operate the on-site Mott Haven Family Health Center, providing the community long-term primary care and dental services with no insurance requirement.

The Phius-certified passive house consumes up to 70 percent less energy than a conventional housing project. The building achieves efficiency at minimal added cost through electrification, enhanced thermal integrity of the exterior envelope and energy recovery measures through balanced ventilation, and heating and cooling systems.

Situated near Interstate 87, the community has numerous retail and green spaces, dining options and entertainment venues nearby, as well as several public transportation options. The location is less than 3 miles from another Bronx affordable housing development that will add 326 units to the borough’s inventory.

Project financing

TD Bank served as both the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and the conventional non-LIHTC equity investor. The tax credits were allocated by The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and Redstone Equity Partners syndicated them. JPMorgan Chase participated as construction lender, while The New York City Housing Development Corp. (HDC) issued the tax-exempt bonds. Both HPD and HDC provided subsidies.

The project was supported by The Bronx Borough President’s Office and the New York City Council with RESO A funds. NYSERDA provided nearly $214,000 in funding through its Multifamily New Construction Program, while $750,000 were awarded through the Buildings of Excellence Competition.