$26.3M senior affordable housing project opens in the Bronx, NY

Dive Brief:

A $26.3 million senior affordable housing development, designed by Dattner Architects and built by Lettire Construction Corp., has opened in the Bronx, NY, Multi-Housing News reported. It was developed by Selfhelp Community Services, Broadway Mosholu, Urban Builders Collaborative and Enterprise Community Partners.
Located in the Riverdale neighborhood of the New York borough, Van Cortlandt Green contains 85 studio apartments, a rooftop community room and an adult day care center. The scheme includes wellness programs, social events and volunteer opportunities as well as access to home care and case management services.
The project received $13.2 million in short- and long-term tax-exempt bonds from the New York Housing Finance Agency as well as $8.9 million in subordinated mortgage subsidy funding.

Dive Insight:

Young professionals aren’t the only ones needing new housing in New York. The city, like many other metros, is seeing strong demand in the 55-plus market, which is gearing up for growth in the coming years as the baby boomer generation looks to downsize in favor of low-maintenance properties and, in many cases, aging-related care.

The number of Americans over the age of 80 is expected to double in the next two decades, while the head of one-third of U.S. households will be older than 65 by 2035, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The senior housing market hit a new record in 2015, with 514 institutional transactions closed and $18.7 billion in institutional sales, according to CBRE. The sector had 48,903 units under construction during the fourth quarter of 2016, up from 22,975 units at the close of 2012, suggesting that some of the demand potential is already being realized.

Although traditionally associated with the institutional category, senior housing is seeing other pockets of opportunity in the emerging “active adult” segment of the 55-plus market. The NAHB’s 55+ Housing Market Index noted growth in single-family sales in the fourth quarter of 2016. These properties typically offer smaller footprints on single-level plans with minimal maintenance required.

D.R. Horton is among the builders eyeing this trend with its Freedom Homes brand, which launched this past summer in Houston.

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