Omni New York, LLC recently opened Morris Avenue Apartments, an affordable housing community in the Melrose neighborhood of Bronx.
Construction of the 176-unit building broke ground in 2014, in partnership with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the New York City Housing Development Corp. (HDC) and Bank of America. The total development cost for the property was about $64 million.
Located at 655 Morris Ave., Morris Avenue Apartments is 87 percent reserved for residents with incomes at or below 60 percent of the area median income. Additionally, 35 units are set aside for formerly homeless individuals, including 17 units for homeless veterans. The remaining 13 percent of the apartments are reserved for tenants restricted to 80 percent of AMI. Omni already welcomed 16 formerly homeless veterans into the new building. The 15-story property includes 9,500 square feet of ground-floor retail, 8,500 square feet of community facility space and a two-level parking structure with 75 parking spaces.
The property includes numerous sustainable and energy-efficient features. Approved for LEED Silver certification prior to construction, the building is on pace to achieving LEED Gold certification. Rooftop solar panels will offset part of the property’s electricity usage. A clean micro-turbine cogeneration unit will allow the building to produce enough electricity to light the common areas, retail space and community facility. The building incorporates designated areas for recycling and an interior bicycle room for the tenants and employees of the commercial areas.
“We at Omni are excited to open our first new construction building in New York City. Built to meet some of the highest eco-friendly standards in the industry, we are very proud to offer these new, quality affordable housing options for New Yorkers, including formerly homeless veterans,” said Eugene Schneur, managing director & co-founder of Omni, in prepared remarks.
As this is a city-subsidized project, all renters were selected through an open lottery system. A local non-profit will provide supportive services to all formerly homeless tenants living in the building. Moreover, a DVR security camera system with approximately 175 cameras, including a facial recognition system at the front entrance, will provide safety for tenants and the public.
The project is part of HDC’s plan to fund more than 2,200 units of affordable housing in 16 developments in Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan.
