Ground broke on a $255 million affordable housing project in the South Bronx on June 30, one that will stack 328 apartments and a new health clinic onto the same campus, as first reported by the Bronx Times. The building, called River Commons, is rising on the campus of NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Morrisania, a partnership between the hospital system, the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development and private developers.
Of the 328 homes, 229 are affordable apartments reserved for households earning between 30 and 70 percent of the area median income. The other 98 are permanent supportive apartments set aside for NYC Health + Hospitals patients who are experiencing homelessness, placed there through the system’s Housing for Health initiative. So a chunk of the building is aimed squarely at people who show up sick at a public hospital with nowhere to go home to.
“River Commons will deliver 328 homes to the South Bronx, with nearly 70% reserved for low-income New Yorkers and 98 supportive apartments for homeless H+H patients,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said. “By bringing affordable housing, health care and community services together in one place, we’re investing [in] New Yorkers who deserve a chance to build a secure future.”
The development includes a new 43,000-square-foot Gotham Health clinic meant to expand primary care access in Morrisania, plus a 15,000-square-foot parking garage. The residential tower runs 17 stories, with studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, a fitness center, a children’s playroom, a community room, coworking space, a 15th-floor terrace and 24-hour security.
Dina Levy, commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, said, “Residents of the South Bronx have long faced high barriers to quality healthcare and affordable housing. River Commons is a remedy, and this first-of-its-kind development is a model for what’s possible when we think boldly about the intersection of housing and health.”
“For more than 300 families, this marks the beginning of a new life,” Levy added. “Children who grow up here will be able to focus on their homework without worrying about whether the heat’s going to come on, or whether their parents will be able to make rent.”
BronxWorks and affordable housing developer Type A Projects will be the long-term owners. BronxWorks will also run on-site social, wellness and employment services for residents. “River Commons will deliver critical, high-quality affordable housing for Bronx families and individuals while offering BronxWorks wraparound services helping residents thrive,” said BronxWorks CEO Eileen Torres, who called it “transformative.”
The money came largely through HPD’s Extremely Low and Low-Income Affordability program, known as ELLA, which finances new construction of multi-family rental buildings for low-income households.
Beyond the apartments and the clinic, the ground floor holds 6,000 square feet for African Communities Together and the BronxWorks Empowerment Center, which will run education, workforce development and legal counseling services. The site also gets a 7,000-square-foot public green space with a landscaped plaza and artwork by Fitgi Saint-Louis meant to reflect the neighborhood’s history and culture.
River Commons is one of several NYC Health + Hospitals housing efforts targeting homeless patients and people with long-term medical needs. It follows the revival of the Just Home project on the NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi campus, which restarted after former Mayor Eric Adams halted it over community opposition.
Featured image: Photo courtesy of Heller
