A three-building affordable housing complex in the Bronx that will also offer support for formerly homeless people is one step closer to becoming reality following a ground-breaking ceremony on Tuesday.
The Grand, a state-led project on East 178th Street near Grand Concourse in Mount Hope, will include 138 affordable housing units, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office. Of those units, 41 will be set aside for adults with serious mental illnesses, who will receive supportive services and rental subsidies to help keep them from returning to the streets. The services will be funded by the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative, according to Cuomo’s office.
The Grand will also feature landscaped rooftop decks that will be equipped with solar panels, providing for some of the buildings’ energy needs.
“When we expand economic opportunities, housing opportunities, and job opportunities for all New Yorkers, we empower the community to forge even greater successes,” Cuomo said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. “The Bronx is a thriving model for New York and the rest of the country of how safe and decent affordable housing can change lives while enriching neighborhoods.”
The $65 million development — a partnership between the state, city, minority-owned firm Thorobird Companies and nonprofit Rehabilitative Case Management & Housing Inc. — is part of the governor’s five-year, $20 billion plan to create or renovate 100,000 affordable housing apartments and 6,000 supportive housing units for the most vulnerable New Yorkers.
HRC Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas, who attended the ground-breaking ceremony Tuesday, said the project is “a reflection of Gov. Cuomo’s commitment to growth in the Bronx.”
“By working with our private-sector partners, we create safe, affordable housing that provides hope and opportunity to our homeless, veterans, and disabled neighbors who will call it home,” Visnauskas added.
It was unclear when the project would be completed.
