Today the Council voted to approve 425 Grand Concourse, an affordable housing development in Councilman Salamanca's district that will be the first major new building on the lower Grand Concourse in fifty years.
This site is important to a lot of Bronxites because for over one hundred years it was the site of PS 31, also known as the Castle on the Concourse. Over the years, thousands of Bronx students attended school at PS 31 before it was ultimately shuttered and demolished.
Because of the site’s significance to the community, Councilman Salamanca worked to ensure that any development to replace PS 31 would be built to be a proud part of the community and would provide needed services to all of those who currently call the South Bronx home.
After many months of negotiation, we have succeeded in bringing a great project to the district. The new building, rising 27 stories, will house a grocery store, a charter school, a clinic and other community space on the lower floors.
The building will be designed to Passive House standards, consuming significantly less energy than a conventional housing project.
The building also is directly next to Garrison Playground, park space that is slated to benefit from $1.5 million in Council capital funds that Councilman Salamanca secured a few years ago. Councilman Salamanca worked to ensure that the developer and management company of 425 Grand Concourse will pay to staff a full time maintenance worker $52,000 annually to maintain the playground into perpetuity.
And finally, 425 Grand Concourse works to help address the need of affordable housing for families in the South Bronx. 277 units will be 100% affordable ranging from 30% to 100% of AMI. Many of those units will be permanently affordable.
As always, the importance of delivering affordable housing for the community through quality developments is incredibly important Councilman Salamanca. It is particularly important today in my his capacity as the Council Land Use Chair that one of the first big land use actions taken this session was to approve this important project.
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