In the same area where President Carter once stood to survey the almost otherworldly rubble and decay, on Intervale Avenue near Freeman Street a new 128-unit development offers low-income residents not only the comfort of a home, but accoutrements such as eco-friendly design, a sculpture garden, decorative lighting, and a free computer with wireless Internet access for each unit.
Called Intervale Green, the new complex was completed in December by the Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDCo) for people either leaving the homeless shelter system, or with family incomes between $28,934 and $53,460. The group expects 400 residents to move in by the end of this month. “We wanted to show it’s achievable,” said WHEDCo founder and president Nancy Biberman of the building’s blend of affordability, technology, aesthetics and green design.
Biberman points to academic studies demonstrating that the characteristics of impoverished neighborhoods – like dirty streets and poorly kept housing – intensify stress and depression. “It’s not a revelation that the beauty of your home has an effect on you,” she said.
The $39 million development – the largest affordable development in the country to received the federal Energy Star designation for energy efficiency – was funded by a combination of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, financing from the NYSERDA Multifamily Program Pilot and other green development programs, along with city capital funding. The building features green roofs, triple-paned windows and a rooftop boiler. Efficient appliances are expected to save residents – one-third of whom will move directly from homeless shelters – up to 30 percent on energy bills.
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Intervale Green joins a growing list of energy-conscious affordable developments in the Bronx. 1212 MLK Apartments, a 54-unit development in Highbridge completed by Beulah HDFC and Dunn Development Corporation in 2006, was the nation’s first multifamily property to qualify for the Energy Star label. Other developments in the borough, such as Melrose Commons II – which consists of 30 three-family homes – have been noted for green features. Still other multifamily properties have been retrofitted for energy efficiency through various government programs. Intervale Green, however, may be the first to combine high environmental standards with artistic design.
WHEDCo obtained donations of high-end tile for the building’s public areas, and the apartments contain sconces, pendant lighting and ceramic tile kitchen backsplashes. Courtyards and a red brick façade reflect elements of typical Bronx tenement buildings.
Bronx artist Matthew Burcaw’s wall-mounted installation “Traffic,” depicting a jumble of brightly colored cars, adorns the main lobby, and the sculpture garden showcases a twisted steel configuration, “Transformations,” by Linda Cunningham.
“I spent a year in Germany and I saw that as a place of enormous change away from a hideous history; when I moved to the Bronx [in 2000] I saw a similar process, but around totally different issues," Cunningham explained.
