Builder BronxPro Group and their partner Services for the Underserved cut the ribbon on a new 94-unit affordable apartment building in Fordham on Tuesday, May 14.
The $47 million mixed-use building, to be jointly run by BronxPro Group and S:US, contains 63 units of affordable housing that includes both moderate and low income households and 31 units of supportive housing with services for both young adults who are aging out of foster care and for homeless adults who have mental illness.
The building, known as the Morris Avenue Apartments, is located between East 182nd and East 183rd streets at 2264 Morris Avenue.
It contains 31 studio apartments, 23 one-bedroom apartments, 25 two-bedroom apartments, and 14 three-bedroom apartments, as well as a two-bedroom apartment for the super.
Amenities include on-site parking, multiple outdoor recreation areas and on-site laundry facilities.
Samantha Magistro, BronxPro Group managing director, said that the University Heights-based company is proud to celebrate the building’s completion.
“The residence truly reflects our mission to develop high quality affordable housing that promotes diverse and healthy Bronx communities,” said Magistro. “Morris Avenue also demonstrates the success of our joint venture partnership which brought together sustainable, neighborhood-based development with excellence…to create a forward thinking moderate, low and supportive housing project.”
Donna Colonna, S:US CEO, said the organization she represents wishes the new tenants well.
“(The building) shows us what is possible when we collaborate to build solutions that address our city’s most urgent needs,” said Colonna. “Here, 94 young people, adults, and families now have a home: an essential foundation that makes opportunity, safety, and success possible.”
Dr. Bola Omotosho, Community Board 5 chairman, said that the board approved funding for the social programs that are an integral component of the building.
“It is a project that we signed onto based on it being a mixed-income, mixed-use project,” said Omotosho, who also said that BronxPro is one of the ‘good developers’ in his district who’ve been supportive of the community.
Up until recently, CB 5 had a positive relationship with S:US, but three proposals by S:US to develop homeless shelters within the service area of the west Bronx community board have soured the partnership.
CB 5 feels more positive about projects like the Morris Avenue apartments, which include both affordable and supportive housing units, he said.
Financing for the project included $13.9 million from New York state in tax-exempt bonds, and federal low-income tax credits generated $15.9 million, with $2.1 million in subsidies from NYS Homes and Community Renewal.
