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.
The National Multifamily Report by Yardi Matrix highlights the highs and lows of the multifamily market in 2023. Despite strong demand, rent growth remained unchanged at 0.3 percent.
With many office and commercial buildings being converted to residential use, two important issues—curbside management and parking—are sometimes not given their due attention. Cities need to assess how vehicle storage, bike and bus lanes, and drop-off zones in front of buildings may need to change because of office-to-residential conversions.
Over 56 developers, operators, and investors across the country were surveyed in John Burns Research and Consulting's recently-launched Apartment Developer and Investor Survey.
To address a severe housing shortage, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration has begun a housing construction strategy pioneered in the years after World War 2. The government aims to use a catalog of pre-approved home designs to reduce the cost and time to construct homes.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams is expected to cut red tape to make it easier and less costly to build housing projects in the city. Adams would exempt projects with fewer than 175 units in low-density residential areas and those with fewer than 250 units in commercial, manufacturing, and medium- and high-density residential areas from environmental review.
ICAST (International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology) has released a resource guide to help multifamily owners and managers, policymakers, utilities, energy efficiency program implementers, and others advance the deployment of VHE heat pump HVAC and water heaters in multifamily housing.
Facing a severe housing shortage, the City of Berkeley, Calif., increased the height limits on residential buildings to 12 stories in the area close to the University of California campus.
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.
