New housing opens in Highbridge

By Steven Gnagni
Managing Editor

Welcome to the Highbridge housing boom.

In mid-August, tenants began to move into a new building at 900 Ogden Avenue here in Highbridge.

Meanwhile, construction is moving along on several other new buildings in Highbridge, and even more buildings are in the works.

The new building, located at the bottom of the hill on Ogden Avenue, is nine stories tall and has 120 units - a mix of studios and one and two bedrooms. Eighteen of those apartments are wheelchair accessible, and are set aside for tenants with special needs.

The apartments all have wood floors. They are equipped with smoke detectors, a sprinkler system, and cable hookups. There is also a community room, a laundry room, and two elevators.

Tenants are moving into the building in phases, with more tenants moving in throughout September. The apartments were only available to residents earning up to 60 percent of the area median income.

"[This new complex] represents quality affordable housing - something that's greatly needed in the Bronx," said Marc Altheim, one of the principals of Atlantic Development Group, the developers of the building.

Atlantic Development Group worked with the New York City Housing Development Corporation to arrange the financing. The developers used tax-exempt bonds, tax incentives from the city's Housing and Preservation Department (HPD) and federal low-income tax credits.

Atlantic Development Group is also working on two other buildings in the area. One, located on Merriam Avenue between 168th and 169th streets, will have 95 units and is slated to open sometime this winter. The other, which is now in the planning stages, is located at 1314 Nelson Avenue, between 169th and 170th streets. That building will be seven stories tall and will have 115 units, and will use similar funding as 900 Ogden Avenue.

Atlantic, however, is not the only company developing in the neighborhood.

Summit Development Partners plans to break ground in December or January on a building at Summit Avenue and 165th Street, according to Justin Stern, a partner with Summit.

"We're currently working on the design, and it will be approximately 40 units," Mr. Stern said. "We're still working on the financing, but they will be affordable. We think it's a great idea - a good population base, and we feel it would be a successful development."

Mr. Stern also mentioned Summit might be interested in expanding the project should any neighboring property become available. The building is slated to be a six-story building, and Mr. Stern said he hopes to have the building ready for occupancy in early 2004.

The other big developer in Highbridge these days is the Highbridge Unity Center, also known as H.U.C.

According to CEO Jorge Batista, H.U.C. is planning a number of properties: a building at 172nd Street and Shakespeare Avenue with 72 one bedrooms available to seniors over 62, which should be finished in February; a building at 1275 Nelson Avenue, which will have 82 units for seniors over 55 and should also be finished in February; eight townhouses at Ogden Avenue and 169th street, which will be completed in January or February; and a number of other townhouses on Shakespeare Avenue and Jessup Place. Construction on these last townhouses will begin next spring.

H.U.C. is accepting applications for the apartments at 1275 Nelson Avenue through October 1, and applications for apartments at Shakespeare and 172nd will likely be accepted in December.

Finally, the city's Housing and Preservation Department (H.P.D.) is rehabilitating a number of buildings.

According to a spokeswoman at H.P.D., the agency has rehabilitated over 600 units in Southern Highbridge over the last seven years.

H.P.D. renovated seven city-owned buildings and then sold them to local nonprofits - H.U.C. and Belmont Arthur L.D.C. - through the Neighborhood Opportunities Work program.