The buildings of the Kelly Street rehab had been on HPD’s notorious list of the ‘200 worst’ residential buildings in New York City. Today, these rejuvenated buildings provide safe havens for neighborhood residents in a unique blend of affordable housing and community sustained agriculture.
With the assistance of local non-profits GrowNYC and Banana Kelly, Kelly Street Gardens was transformed into a demonstration farm with rain water from the two roofs collected in tanks for irrigation.
The Gardens have become a community asset that residents use to grow fresh produce in a neighborhood lacking healthy food sources. Together with safe, healthy, affordable apartments, the project has helped to create a positive transformation on this once troubled block.
Watch video about the project.
The Knick is a project that converted seven four-story walk-ups into a unified condominium complex. The buildings date from the early 20th century and stood boarded up and uninhabitable for 20 years.
OCV rehabilitated them to provide generous and sustainable living spaces. The units are LEED Homes certified and building amenities include:
-a rooftop lounge
-a fitness center
-on-site bike storage and parking
-remote door answering service and storage for deliveries
-ground-floor retail
Serviam Gardens blends new construction with the renovation and adaptive reuse of an existing convent on the campus of Mount Saint Ursula. The three-building complex brings affordable, independent, senior living to the Bronx.
As part of the Green Communities Program, Serviam Gardens was designed with built-in sustainability such as surface water management, water conservation, energy efficiency and a healthy living environment.
In 2012 it received an Honor Award in Collaborative Design from the New York Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Riverdale Avenue Apartments is a new mixed-income development that sets new standards for rental residential buildings in the Metro-NY area. The building boasts green amenities and commanding views of the Hudson River, a highly efficient envelope, green rooftops, bamboo flooring, and energy efficient lighting, appliances and fixtures.
On-site resident amenities include:
-below grade parking
-laundry facilities
-a club/recreational room and gym
-indoor and outdoor play spaces
-rooftop terraces accessible
These two affordable, multi-family housing buildings in the Bronx are built with a focus on sustainability.
The Decatur Green project features a rain water harvesting system for use in toilets, a high efficiency HVAC system and high performance building envelope.
The Tiebout Green project also uses a rain water recycling system in addition to a high efficiency boiler plant and a solar thermal hot water system. All apartments are equipped with high efficiency appliances, fixtures and lighting, low VOC paints and sustainable finishes. A rooftop terrace and a community room equipped with a full kitchen are amenities made available to residents.
This Green Communities tenant-in-occupancy rehabilitation took a severely distressed high rise in the Bronx and transformed it into green, high quality, affordable housing.
Going beyond the standard rehabilitation project, OCV transformed this property into a community asset by converting the building’s parking lot rooftop into an expansive rain harvesting terrace with gardening planters for resident use.
See video about the project.
The Friedrichs senior apartments were designed in a unique modern classic style. To maintain the integrity of The Wartburg Adult Care Community, an 150+ year old institution, OCV designed a wood frame structure that elegantly combines traditional materials with contemporary details.
The Friedrichs is LEED for Homes Gold and NYSERDA-certified. The project provides supported yet independent senior living in a healthy, accessible, barrier free building.
Mosholu Gardens brings LEED Silver supportive housing to the Norwood section of the Bronx. This 7-story new construction provides residential efficiency units with private kitchens and baths. Residents can take advantage of indoor and outdoor communal gathering rooms as well as spaces for support services.
The challenges presented by the irregular site configuration on a steep incline of bedrock were used by OCV as opportunities. The architects created a multi-layered design with entrances on two levels and three individualized green spaces.
Kingsbridge Terrace is a sustainably built veterans’ residence. It provides green supportive housing to veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and those with a history of homelessness and substance abuse.
The new residence creates a sense of community among veterans of all eras and features:
– common rooms, gardens, gyms and computer labs
– green roofs and pervious hardscapes
– energy efficient HVAC systems and appliances
– a microturbine for waste energy capture and reuse
– low impact materials such as local, recycled, renewable and reclaimed
Kingsbridge Terrace received the 2015 ‘Outstanding Residence of the Year’ award from the Supportive Housing Network of New York.
West Tremont Senior Residence is an award-winning LEED Silver and Enterprise Green Communities new construction project. It provides affordable apartments and amenities for community residents ages 55 and over.
The architects took advantage of the steeply sloping site to bring in expansive day lighting and create outdoor terraces adjacent to recreation and program spaces.
On-site amenities and building features include:
– a recessed green roof
– a tenant library and multi-purpose room
– laundry facilities and support services
– a high performance thermal envelope
– recycled and renewable materials
– efficient mechanical and electrical systems
West Tremont Residence received the 2017 Big Apple Brownfield Award for Collaboration from the NYC Brownfield Partnership.
