A Vacant Lot in the Bronx Is About to Make History

Ground has been broken on a historic new co-op. Habitat for Humanity, the developer Almat Group, and the city’s department of Housing Preservation and Development are teaming up to build Sydney House, an affordable 56-unit co-op in the Williamsbridge section of the northern Bronx, PRWeb reports. It will be the largest multi-family development ever built by a Habitat for Humanity affiliate. 

Sydney House, now rising on a vacant lot at 839-843 Tilden Street, is also the first project financed under HPD’s Open Door program, which was announced last year as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing 2.0 plan to create and preserve 300,000 affordable homes by 2026. Open Door funds the new construction of cooperative and condominium buildings for moderate- and middle-income households. Sydney House will consist of 26 one-bedroom apartments, 23 two-bedroom apartments, and 7 three-bedroom apartments as well as a shared 2,000-square-foot recreation space. 

“This is Almat’s first step into the affordable housing arena,” says Uche Alozie, a principal of Brooklyn-based Almat, “and we hope to bring more positive economic and social impact projects to the forefront in the future.” 

Upon construction completion, Open Door rules state that the developer will sell the units to qualified buyers who agree to occupy their units for the length of the regulatory period. If the purchaser sells or refinances during the regulatory period, the purchaser may realize up to 2% appreciation on the original purchase price per year of owner occupancy. Upon resale, the purchaser will also be required to sell to a household making no more than the project’s income cap.

Habitat for Humanity New York City CEO Karen Haycox says Sydney House is “the largest multi-family building ever undertaken by Habitat for Humanity anywhere in the world.”