A new senior affordable housing development will soon be built along the Grand Concourse corridor.
The upcoming project, which will be built at 2064 Grand Concourse, located between East Burnside Avenue and East 180th Street, is an NYC Housing Preservation & Development project in collaboration with GF55 Partners and Thorobird Companies.
The 17-story building will consist of studios and one-bedroom rental apartments for seniors. Upon completion, it will offer 98 units, plus a unit for the building’s superintendent.
The development will include a lounge, a multi-purpose room as well as a laundry room for its senior tenants.
The square footage of the lot is 6,854 feet. Floors 1 through 10 will provide 3,769 square feet of living area. The eleventh through the 17th floors will be somewhat smaller in size due to several setbacks. The eleventh floor and 12th floors will contain 3,483 and 3,387 square feet respectively. Floors 13 to 17 will span 3,087 square feet.
The property is currently occupied by the First Union Baptist Church, which has been in existence since the mid-1970s. Before then, it was known as Tremont Temple Gates of Mercy, a synagogue that was dedicated at the beginning of the 20th century.
It is not yet known when the church will vacate the property, but Community Board 5 chairman Dr. Bola Omotosho said the board is looking forward to the completion of the new development.
“Projects like this one, which will provide affordable and supportive housing for seniors as well as veterans, are always welcome in this district,” Omotosho said. “Thorobird Companies has multiple developments in this district and we support their approach.”
According to the CB5 chairman, the church was in jeopardy of losing its property two or three years ago, before Thorobird Companies backed the church and provided funding to keep it from going into bank foreclosure.
The board said that the new development will include First Union Baptist Church, upon CB5 approval.
Thorobird Companies previously worked on two other developments in the area, on Creston and Morris avenues.
According to architectural firm GF55 Partners, construction of the project, led by architect David Gross, is expected to begin in August 2020 and be completed sometime in 2022.
The concrete structure will boast a brick exterior and cost about $19 million to build.
The property is located inclose vicinity to the Bx 1 and Bx 2’s Grand Concourse/East 180th Street bus stop, three blocks from the B and D train’s Tremont Avenue and 182nd/183rd Street subway station and about four blocks away from the Burnside Avenue subway station on the 4 line. It is also located right around the corner from the 46th Precinct, located at 2120 Ryder Avenue.
Nearby eateries in the area include the Concourse Food Plaza, Dominican restaurants La Estrella and Caridad, Kennedy Pizza and Chicken.
First Union Baptist Church could not be reached to discuss their future plans.
