
Nearly 50 years ago, a handful of residents of the former Seward Park Urban Renewal Area in New York City had to relocate due to the demolition of their buildings by Robert Moses. Now, developer Delancey Street Associates, with help from Dattner Architects, has designed an affordable senior housing building and given priority to previous residents to come back and live at the new Frances Goldin Senior Apartments.
After the site had sat vacant for decades, New York City decided to develop the land to create the nine-site, 2 million-square-foot Essex Crossing mixed-use community, with the Frances Goldin Apartments as one of the centerpieces of the affordable component of the project.
Located on the Lower East side of the city, the building has 99 one-bedroom units, 590 square feet to 620 square feet in size, and serves low-income seniors. The mix of income-targeted units is 0%, 30%, 40%, 60%, and 90% of the area median income, with monthly rents ranging from $396 to $1,254.
Designed to cater to the needs of an aging population, the ground floor of the building will be home to the 55,000-square-foot New York University Langone Joan H. and Preston Robert Tisch Center, a medical facility to serve residents in need. Plus, the developer added a senior center run by social-services provider Grand Street Settlement that offers close-to-home programming to keep seniors active and engaged.
The ground floor also includes retail space for small businesses, including the GrandLo Café, a social enterprise eatery that will provide jobs to local youths and offer programming focusing on business and entrepreneurial skills.
Atop Frances Goldin Apartments, a rooftop garden is available for use by residents and the senior center. The team also contracted locally based energy-management consultant Bright Power to install solar panels to reduce the cost of the building’s electricity. The building has enrolled in several energy-saving programs, as well, including ones operated by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Enterprise Green Communities, and LEED Neighborhood Development.
Financing for the project came from a mix of public financing, both state and federal; private sources; and nonprofit funds. The city and state of New York contributed tax credits worth roughly $25.7 million of the project’s $79 million total. Another $34.5 million came from federal government tax credits.
With all 99 units leased by Opening Day in January of this year, the previous neighborhood residents who returned to the area can reminisce about the place they once grew up in.