A new chapter has started on the site of the New York Public Library’s Inwood Branch in Manhattan. The site is now home to The Eliza, a 174-unit affordable housing development; the redeveloped 20,000-square-foot Inwood Library—on the first two floors; an early childhood education center; a STEM robotics center; and Emma’s Torch, a nonprofit that provides culinary training for refugees.
PROJECT DETAILS
DEVELOPERS: Ranger Properties, Housing Workshop, Community League of the Heights, Children’s Village, and Alembic Community Development
ARCHITECTS: Fogarty Finger Architects in collaboration with Andrew Berman
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Mega Contracting Group
MAJOR FUNDERS: New York City Housing Development Corp.; New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development; Office of Manhattan Borough President; New York City Council; TD Bank; Raymond James Affordable Housing Investments; Robin Hood Foundation; New York Public Library; Department of Housing and Urban Development
Co-developed by Ranger Properties, Housing Workshop, Community League of the Heights, Children’s Village, and Alembic Community Development, The Eliza serves households earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income with 27 units designated for the formerly homeless and 70 deemed permanently affordable under New York City’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing and regulatory requirements.
The development, completed in May 2024, was a significant milestone for the Inwood Rezoning Plan, which aims to build 1,600 new affordable homes and preserve 2,500 units in Manhattan’s Inwood neighborhood. Demonstrating the need for that housing, The Eliza received 80,000 lottery applications.
The Eliza goes beyond housing and serves as an essential hub for residents and the surrounding community, living up to its namesake, Eliza Hamilton, who had bequeathed funds to the predecessor of the Inwood Library and had a focus on literacy for all as well as the well-being of Inwood and Washington Heights.
Alexander Severin
“The developers worked to create a project that would appeal to new community residents and also provide amenities for the broader community,” says Ellen Seidman, founder of Housing Workshop. “We also worked to create programming for all age groups within the building.”Public-private partnerships were critical to the $101 million development, with public financing from New York City’s Housing Development Corp. and Housing Preservation and Development; philanthropic contributions from poverty-fighting Robin Hood Foundation; and additional financing from private stakeholders.