Amid the housing crisis, developers and architects are seeking out contemporary prototypes for housing that are not only affordable and accessible but that also stimulate local economies and enhance community connection. From the South Bronx, one of New York’s most rapidly evolving areas, to Bentonville, Arkansas, which is projected to experience a 75 percent population boom over the next two decades, the following upcoming projects represent a range of single- and multifamily, supportive, and affordable residences designed to revitalize their surrounding neighborhoods.
Housing Solutions Across the U.S.
The Bronx, New York
The Peninsula
Body Lawson Associates and WXY architecture + urban design
The site of a former juvenile-detention center is being transformed into a five-building mixed-use development with 740 affordable housing units and over 100,000 square feet of commercial and retail, community, and light-industrial facilities. When completed in 2024, the nearly five-acre site, once a symbol of New York’s broken justice system, will be connected with its surrounding neighborhood and serve as a new urban model for a nexus of health and creativity, with a food production hub, wellness center, greengrocer, artist studios, and a preschool. The project, which is scheduled to break ground in January, will be completed in three phases.
Photo © WXY/BLA
The Bronx, New York
1490 Southern Boulevard
Bernheimer Architecture
Two miles north of the Peninsula, in the Crotona Park East neighborhood, an 85,000-square-foot senior-housing project will also break ground in January. The 10-story building will be completely affordable; 30 percent of the units are to be reserved for formerly homeless tenants. The ground level will serve a diverse range of community functions, with spaces run by the Jewish Association Serving the Aging as well as the LGBT Network. Located next to an elevated subway line, the design incorporates double-glazed windows to mitigate noise while maximizing daylight. Residents can get more sun at an outdoor communal area on the eighth floor. The project is slated to open in 2021.
Photo courtesy Bernheimer Architecture
Chicago
La Casa Norte Pierce House
Landon Bone Baker Architects
A new supportive-housing facility and community center is currently rising in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood. The 51,000-square-foot building will provide 25 affordable housing units for at-risk or recently homeless young adults and families, as well as access to resources such as a nutrition center, a teen drop-in center, a teaching kitchen and café, and other social services. The project, which opens in December, is on track for LEED Silver certification, featuring edible gardens for on-site food production, multitiered green roofs, and a solar thermal system.
Photo © Landon Bone Baker Architects
New Orleans
3609-13 S Saratoga
Office of Jonathan Tate
This 3,800-square-foot double house will be the third installment of the Starter Home* initiative launched by Office of Jonathan Tate. Formulated as a model alternative to conventional funding processes aimed at producing affordability, the program homes in on overlooked opportunities to expand the market. The Saratoga project is the first crowd-funded real-estate equity in the United States. Informed by its immediate urban context, the 3-bedroom house, located on a nonconforming lot in a transitioning neighborhood, expands on the traditional two-bay and makes use of fiber-cement siding, keeping material costs low to increase financial accessibility. Construction starts this month and will wrap up next June.
Photo © Will Crocker
New Orleans
3609-13 S Saratoga
Office of Jonathan Tate
This 3,800-square-foot double house will be the third installment of the Starter Home* initiative launched by Office of Jonathan Tate. Formulated as a model alternative to conventional funding processes aimed at producing affordability, the program homes in on overlooked opportunities to expand the market. The Saratoga project is the first crowd-funded real-estate equity in the United States. Informed by its immediate urban context, the 3-bedroom house, located on a nonconforming lot in a transitioning neighborhood, expands on the traditional two-bay and makes use of fiber-cement siding, keeping material costs low to increase financial accessibility. Construction starts this month and will wrap up next June.
Photo courtesy Office of Jonathan Tate
Bentonville, Arkansas
Housing NW Arkansas Site 2
Kevin Daly Architects
The design for Site 2 of the competition features low-rise housing in a pinwheel arrangement that prioritizes open space and community-building. Prominent pedestrian and bicycle pathways help to integrate it with the existing landscape and enhance the neighborhood. Live-work spaces, arts retail, incubator offices, and local corporate offices will be part of the five-acre development, which is slated to begin construction in January. Pending the completion and success of the first two plans, the remaining three sites are also expected to move forward.
Photo © Kevin Daly Architects
Bentonville, Arkansas
Housing NW Arkansas Site 1
Digsau
This winning entry for one of five sites, all part of the Housing Northwest Arkansas competition—an initiative by the University of Arkansas’s Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design to come up with plans for mixed-use attainable housing—comprises a range of building forms inspired by regional vernacular, arranged to mimic the buildings on a traditional Ozark farmstead. By stacking structures and landscapes, the nine-acre plan—a mix of single-family houses, multistory mixed-use buildings, and open space—creates a contextualized low-cost medium-density residence solution, with the capacity for inexpensive wood-frame expansion over garages and commercial spaces. The project is expected to break ground in summer 2019.
Photo © DIGSAU
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