Bronx residents get LEED Platinum public housing complex, rooftop farm

The New York City Housing Authority has opened Arbor House, a 124-unit complex in the Morrisania neighborhood of the Bronx. The LEED Platinum building includes energy-efficient HVAC, a "green wall" lobby feature, and a 10,000-sf hydroponic farm on the roof.

Designed by ABS Architects, the $37.7 million facility is the result of a collaboration between the NYCHA, the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and Blue Sea Development. The public-private initiative was part of a city program to recruit private companies to develop dilapidated and vacant NYCHA land. About 2,000 units in the program are currently under construction or in pre-development in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn.

Arbor House, an eight-story building, contains 16 studios, 33 one-bedroom apartments, and 75 two-bedroom apartments, plus superintendent quarters. Residents must earn less than 60% of the area median income ($49,800 for a family of four). Residents will start moving in during the next few weeks. HPD spokesperson RuthAnne Visnauskas says the city is pushing for more sustainable design in its public housing facilities. The rooftop farm, a first for the agency, will be operated by third party Sky Vegetables and is expected to generate money by selling produce commercially, with some of the yield set aside for building residents and other local families.

About $37 million of the project cost was subsidized via local, state, and city subsidies, Reso A funds, tax credit equities, and tax-exempt bonds.

(http://observer.com/2013/02/an-arbor-in-the-forest-green-affordable-housing-development-opens-in-the-bronx/)

Boyd R. Zoccola is Chair and Chief Elected Officer of BOMA International. A BOMA member since 1994, he has served on the Executive, Finance, Investment, and Medical/Healthcare Facilities Committees. An Indiana Real Estate Principal Broker and a board member of the Real Estate Round Table, he is Executive Vice President of Hokanson Companies, Inc., of Indianapolis, and has been involved in the development of $600 million worth of real estate. On a volunteer basis, Zoccola was president of Horizon House and a board member of Girls, Inc. He holds a BA in biology from Indiana University.