Our Housing

Our Affordable Housing Development & Preservation Work

We have worked since 1969 to create more than 8,700 apartments through 73 affordable rental and homeownership development projects. We started as a development consultant to other nonprofits and have worked since 1989 as a developer/owner of our own properties. We presently own and maintain 35 buildings containing 1,978 apartments in various locations, with concentrations of housing and programs in the Mount Eden section of the Bronx, Crown Heights, Brooklyn, the Two Bridges neighborhood on the Lower East Side, as well as at other sites throughout Manhattan.

Our developments are mixed-income multi-family developments in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan. Our developments reflect the need for quality affordable housing for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. This includes shelter for homeless families, and apartments for very low-income households transitioning to permanent housing. We are committed to keeping our buildings permanently affordable, and vigilantly implement measures to assure a long, healthy life for these properties and provide opportunities and programs for residents and neighbors.

Our Asset Management department positions our properties to safeguard the long-term sustainability and health of our housing developments. The team works with property managers to evaluate and strengthen portfolio performance, address opportunities for capital improvements and energy efficiency upgrades, and create and execute strategies to ensure the quality, stability, and sustainability of our housing for our residents.

Our Resident Engagement Services program works to meet the housing stability needs of households who have experienced homelessness and are now living at our Semiperm Residence, and at former “cluster site” apartments where they are now leaseholders.

Current Projects

We have an active development pipeline of new construction and rehabilitation projects underway or in the planning phase that will create and preserve 1,565 units of affordable housing and bring additional amenities, programs and services to communities in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan. We work to keep our existing housing stock in excellent repair and seek out additional acquisitions and applications to the City to bring more development projects on board each year.

Bronx Housing

The original New Settlement Apartments rehabilitation and acquisition from the City in the late 1980s launched our work as affordable housing owners, developers and resident engagement providers in the Mount Eden section of the Bronx. This portfolio has grown to include 19 residential properties with 1,140 units of affordable housing and space for an array of youth and family programs at New Settlement, where we recently upgraded systems and apartments of the original 14 buildings and constructed 1561 Walton Avenue (left).

New construction and preservation projects include eight former homeless household ‘cluster sites’ with 412 apartments that we manage and plan to acquire and rehabilitate; 182 units with community space currently in construction at a NYCHA site in the Fordham Heights neighborhood; and another 72 units of new construction being planned at two additional sites.

Manhattan Housing

Our Manhattan housing development work included the construction and preservation of 1,350 units of affordable housing in the Two Bridges Redevelopment Area of lower Manhattan, including the Two Bridges Tower (left), which we still own. Our work has expanded to include projects in Harlem, the Upper West Side, Midtown, and the East Village. These buildings include housing for formerly homeless households, seniors, veterans, and individuals living with disabilities.

Brooklyn Housing

Our Brooklyn developments began with the acquisition of several buildings from the City that would become the St. John’s Place Family Center, one of the first Tier II shelters that has provided 92 separate apartments, daycare and social service support for families transitioning to permanent housing. Since then, our Crown Heights developments have grown to include another 68 units of new and preserved permanent affordable housing, as well as commercial space for community organizations that offer additional programming to residents and neighbors. Our next new development, designated for seniors, formerly homeless and other low-income residents, will break ground in 2022 just a few blocks away in the Weeksville section of Crown Heights.

Resources for individuals and families seeking emergency shelters, affordable apartments, and NYCHA housing support can be found below, along with more resources and tools for support in finding and/or maintaining permanent housing.