Tishman Speyer Lands $222M for NYC Affordable Housing Project
Construction is scheduled to begin in January.
Tishman Speyer’s TS Communities is planning to develop 160 Van Cortlandt Park South, a 339-unit affordable housing community in New York City’s Bronx borough. The firm’s affordable housing development platform has secured approximately $222 million in financing for the development.
The funding was provided via tax-exempt bonds, subsidy loans from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the New York City Housing Development Corp., as well as low-income housing tax credit equity. The letter of credit will be provided by The Urban Investment Group at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, while Hudson Housing Capital will secure an equity investment from the purchase of low-income housing tax credits.
The 160 Van Cortlandt Park South site, once the location of the Visitation Church and School, has been vacant since the parish merged with St. John’s in 2015. In 2022, Tishman Speyer acquired part of this property from the Archdiocese of New York. The New York City School Construction Authority purchased the remaining portion of the property, where it is currently constructing a 700-seat public elementary school.
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The project at 160 Van Cortlandt Park South is within Bronx’s Kingsbridge neighborhood. Spanning an entire city block, the development is across from Van Cortlandt Park and near the 1 train, several bus lines and a retail corridor.
A closer look
Tishman Speyer plans to break ground on the project in January, with an expected completion in 2027. Aufgang Architects serves as the main architect. The 279,000-square-foot development will be built to Enterprise Green sustainable design standards. Common-area amenities are set to include a fitness center, two recreation rooms, a rooftop terrace and a laundry room, among others.
The eight-story building will comprise studios, as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans. A total of 285 units will be designated for residents earning between 40 percent to 105 percent of the area median income, while the remaining supportive housing units will be reserved to formerly homeless individuals. The project also includes 17 mobility impaired units and seven hearing and vision impaired units.
Last year, TS Communities started the construction of a fully affordable community that will be part of Edgemere Commons, an 11-building affordable housing complex in Queens’ Far Rockaway neighborhood. The 237-unit addition—expected to be finished next year—will provide 201 units for individuals earning between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income, while the remaining 36 units will be set up as supportive housing units for formerly homeless residents.
