Covenant House Starts Work on New Facility for NYC Youth
The purpose-built, 80,000-square-foot property in Manhattan will serve at-risk young people.
Covenant House. Rendering courtesy of FXCollaborative
Covenant House, a nonprofit that serves homeless and runaway youth, has broken ground on an 80,000-square-foot facility in New York City that will provide treatments and services to at-risk young people. The ground-up facility is being built at 460 W. 41st St. in Midtown Manhattan, at the current site of the existing Covenant House New York, with an estimated completion date of 2021.
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Developed by Gotham Organization and designed by FXCollaborative, the project has a phased development plan so that Covenant House can continue to serve existing residents without interruption. The nonprofit is raising $128 million to build the facility as part of a campaign dubbed Take Notice NYC. Covenant House has raised $111 million so far, according to its website. The campaign was launched with a $10 million gift from longstanding Covenant House board member Strauss Zelnick and his wife, Wendy Belzberg.
The new, purpose-built facility is intended to provide shelter, coordinated care and robust services including health care, job training, educational and civil legal services under one roof. The 11-story building will have an envelope composed of brick, metal, and glass, a large expanse of windows on the second floor, and highlights of wood in the interior, according to a statement by FXCollaborative.
Tackling homelessness
The development marks the first project of its kind for Covenant House in its 47-year history. Covenant House has served more than 2,500 youths in New York City over the past year, with 1,451 of them receiving residential services. The organization noted in a statement that 33,000 youth are affected by homelessness in the city every year.
Earlier this month, supportive housing developer Breaking Ground started work on Betances Residence, a 152-unit affordable community for formerly homeless and low-income seniors in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx. The project is being built to Passive House standards.
