The highly anticipated Bronx Point development marked the official opening of 542 housing units in New York City.
Co-developed by L+M Development Partners and Type A Projects, the affordable homes are part of phase one of a $349 million mixed-use development on the Harlem River waterfront in the South Bronx. Officials also celebrated the opening of a public park and esplanade.
Looking ahead, Bronx Point will be the future home of The Hip-Hop Museum, which is anticipated to open in spring 2025. The development will also feature an early childhood space run by BronxWorks, one of New York City’s leading nonprofit organizations.
“Bronx Point is the complete transformation of a long-vacant city-owned property into a mixed-use development that creates new space for important community institutions, an amazing new public waterfront park, and, most importantly, new homes for hundreds of families who need them,” said Lisa Gomez, CEO and a partner at L+M Development Partners, noting that the ribbon-cutting ceremony “represents the next step forward in the complete reimagining of a once dormant site.”
Phase one of Bronx Point was funded through a mix of both public and private capital, including financing from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the New York City Housing Development Corp. (HDC), Empire State Development, Wells Fargo, and additional private funding. The overall funding includes $323.5 million for the building, along with $25.5 million for the waterfront esplanade’s construction from the New York City Economic Development Corp.
More specifically, the development utilizes approximately $99 million in low-income housing tax credits and $21 million in brownfield tax credits. Wells Fargo was the tax credit investor. The financing package also includes about $130.8 million in tax-exempt bonds issued by HDC, with about $87 million in long-term bonds. Wells Fargo provided a letter of credit as credit enhancement for the bonds. HDC and HPD also provided additional subsidies, and private debt and equity were also used. The park was separately financed by the city.
The 542 affordable apartments were mostly available through a lottery for families earning between 30% and 120% of the area median income, and apartments for the formerly homeless. More than 63,000 New Yorkers applied to live at Bronx Point.
The development includes 135 studio, 192 one-, 122 two-, and 93 three-bedroom units. Amenities will feature an outdoor terrace for residents, on-site laundry, a children’s room, a community lounge, a bike storage room, an on-site fitness center, and around-the-clock front desk security. The project’s second phase is anticipated to include additional housing units along with additional retail and community space.
Bronx Point was designed by S9Architecture, and Urban Atelier Group handled construction for the project. Marvel Architects with Abel Bainnson Butz designed the outdoor esplanade space, while Gensler, Ralph Appelbaum Associates, and Michael Ford will design the museum's interior.
"Bronx Point's success is in large part due to the hard work of an amazing community board who dedicated evenings and weekends to shape more than 3 acres of public open space surrounding the new building,” said Annie Tirschwell, principal of Type A Projects. “Over the course of two years and 25 meetings, the community and our landscape design professionals at Marvel produced a world-class public waterfront esplanade that the Bronx deserves. Complete with a dynamic playground, adult fitness areas, new barbecues, and tons of seating and plantings, this oasis will provide access to the Harlem River waterfront for all. Type A was honored to be part of this incredible collaboration."
