Seong Kwon Photography
Project: Soundview ResidencesLocation: New York CityArchitect: Magnusson Architecture and Planning Developers: L+M Development Partners, Lemle & Wolff, and CPC Resources
New Era
Two underutilized parking lots on a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) site in the Soundview neighborhood of South Bronx, N.Y., have been transformed into much-needed affordable housing for seniors and families.
Architect Magnusson Architecture and Planning (MAP) worked with the awkward site, which faced an unbuilt street between the older NYCHA buildings and Soundview Park.
“It was an innovative use of NYCHA property and has the potential to really extend the neighborhood and become a new edge of Soundview Park,” says Christine Hunter, a MAP principal.
Fernando Villa, also a principal at MAP, says it was important to make a contrast but still connect the new buildings with the older NYCHA stock. MAP used brick as the connection to the older buildings, a reference to the existing mid–20th-century brick structures as well as smaller homes in the neighborhood.
The buildings each have three-story wings along the newly constructed portion of Bronx River Avenue and an eight-story portion set back from the street facing the park. MAP broke the mass of the buildings through different brick colors. Massing also helped to maintain the existing views of the park and the Bronx River from the NYCHA buildings. An outdoor common area was inserted between the buildings to create one campus.
The $95 million development, which was co-developed by L+M Development Partners, Lemle & Wolff, and CPC Resources, also meets Enterprise Green Communities standards, with high-efficiency building envelopes and energy-efficiency systems.
“It’s like a new era for an area that was underdeveloped,” Villa says, adding that the new development is a good example of how to improve NYCHA campuses across the city.