In Brooklyn, N.Y., the recently opened Atrium at Sumner offers 132,418 sf of affordable housing for seniors.
The $132 million project includes 190 apartments—132 of them available to senior households earning below or at 50% of the area median income and 57 units available to formerly homeless seniors. Situated on underutilized land at New York City Housing Authority’s Sumner Houses, the 11-story structure includes a ground-level, 8,309-sf community facility and a year-round, 2,760-sf interior community garden.
Studio Libeskind’s design features bold diagonal lines that wrap the building and create a folding form—which the firm describes as “a dynamic yet rational geometric form interrupted by a pattern of open and solid elements.”
“Growing up in social housing in the Bronx gave me a unique perspective on the importance of community and high-quality, affordable housing,” Daniel Libeskind, principal design architect, Studio Libeskind, said in a statement. “I hope this project serves as a powerful example of how good design can positively impact society, especially for those in need.”
The studio and one-bedroom units all have large windows and a variety of open layouts. Amenities include a 24-hour attended lobby, free broadband in common areas and apartments, onsite building manager, an apartment designated for a live-in superintendent, laundry on the second and ninth floors, a multipurpose community room, a library/computer room, bicycle storage room, exercise room, handrails in common areas, and emergency pull cords and built-in air conditioners in each apartment.
The Atrium at Sumner incorporates passive house design principles and uses 60% to 70% less energy than the average NYC apartment building. The sustainable design features high-performance envelope materials and systems and energy-efficient HVAC and ERV systems. The appliances and HVAC systems are all-electric.
Design began in 2017, construction in 2021. Residents started moving into the building in April 2024.
Often referred to as “five-over-ones,” the mid-rise apartment type is typically comprised of five stories of apartments on top of a concrete “podium” of ground-floor retail. The main criticism of the “five-over-one” is that they are often too predictable.
A recently opened multifamily property in Lawrence, Mass., is an adaptive reuse of an 1840s-era mill building. Stone Mill Lofts is one of the first all-electric mixed-income multifamily properties in Massachusetts. The all-electric building meets ambitious modern energy codes and stringent National Park Service historic preservation guidelines.
AEC Giants with multifamily practices report that the sector has been struggling over the past year, despite the high demand for housing, especially affordable products.
As affordable housing continues to grow, more projects are looking to diversify their footprint by adding mixed-use components, community areas, and more.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey recently signed far-reaching legislation to boost housing production and address the high cost of housing in the Bay State. The Affordable Homes Act aims to build or save 65,000 homes through $5.1 billion in spending and 49 policy initiatives.
IAPMO has published a new white paper titled “Adaptive Reuse: Converting Offices to Multi-Residential Family,” a comprehensive analysis of addressing housing shortages through the conversion of office spaces into residential units.
A movement to encourage more housing projects along the California coast has stalled out in the California legislature. Earlier this year, lawmakers, with the backing of some housing activists, introduced a series of bills aimed at making it easier to build apartments and accessory dwelling units along California’s highly regulated coast.
Phius recently released, REVIVE 2024, a retrofit standard for more resilient buildings. The standard focuses on resilience against grid outages by ensuring structures remain habitable for at least a week during extreme weather events.
More than 1.2 billion sf of U.S. office space—14.8% of the nation’s total—have strong potential for conversion to residential use, according to real estate software and services firm Yardi. Yardi’s new Conversion Feasibility Index scores office buildings on their suitability for multifamily conversion.
Often referred to as “five-over-ones,” the mid-rise apartment type is typically comprised of five stories of apartments on top of a concrete “podium” of ground-floor retail. The main criticism of the “five-over-one” is that they are often too predictable.
A recently opened multifamily property in Lawrence, Mass., is an adaptive reuse of an 1840s-era mill building. Stone Mill Lofts is one of the first all-electric mixed-income multifamily properties in Massachusetts. The all-electric building meets ambitious modern energy codes and stringent National Park Service historic preservation guidelines.
AEC Giants with multifamily practices report that the sector has been struggling over the past year, despite the high demand for housing, especially affordable products.
