Habitat For Humanity in the Bronx
A helping hand from Habitat for Humanity in the Williamsbridge area of the Bronx in New York. A large project has been revealed and set to start construction at the beginning of next year for the largest project in the organization’s history. A 57 multiple family housing unit is set to start construction, and the people of the area seem overwhelmed with hopefulness for a speedy development of the building. Situated on Tilden Street. Dubbed the Sydney House, this project by Habitat for Humanity hopes to have completed construction within two years. “We don’t want New York to become like Paris, where you have the wealth within the city bounds and the lower-middle income folks living on the outskirts,” says Donald Matheson, of Almat Group. Helping medium income families to build equity, the families who are moving into the new construction will own their unit. Helping these families to get out of the rut of constant renting and never building up any type of proprietorship or value.
Even more than that, a select few of the 57 families will give a hand with the construction of the Sydney House, making the meaning and importance of the building a little closer to their heart. The Williamsbridge section, more commonly known by the local Bronxites as the Gunhill section, has had some tough times in the past, but with the construct of this new project, most are hopeful that it will continue to help improve as it has for the last several years. The units in the Sydney House will be made available to families making between 50 and 100 percent of the area’s median income. As Matheson states, he is hopeful with his joining forces with Habitat for Humanity, to help out the average citizen in the Bronx, allowing them to improve their way of life. The project is quite the endeavor, and the largest project to date, in the United States. The building will have seven floors, and do so much in the way of helping working class families.
Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization, is currently known for their single family homes built with the help of volunteers. Has taken on quite a massive project, but it will be easily attainable with the help of the Almat Group. Each unit containing either: one, two, or three bedrooms in each apartment, providing options for small and large families. Along with a large parking area reserved for residents, allowing for 26 cars. Habitat for Humanity is helping to arrange 30-year mortgages with a fixed, 2% interest rate and a 1% down payment. Just another way the group is helping to make living in the Bronx a more feasible task. The price tag on one of the co-op units will be set between 50 and 80 percent of the area’s median household income, in previous years was around the $51,000, bench mark. With the extensive help of local volunteers, the Almat Group, families moving in, and Habitat for Humanity volunteers, the organization has high hopes that the building will be opened sometime in 2017. One step at a time, Habitat for Humanity, had built a 40 unit complex in New York, and are moving forward with the Sydney House, outdoing themselves. The group hopes to continue to open more and more affordable living homes to the New York area in years to come.
