Horizontal logo
News
Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Edwin's Place: A New Beginning in Brooklyn

Developing supportive and affordable housing is often an odyssey, with unanticipated twists and turns, some trials and tribulations, and requiring the help of hundreds of people in myriad ways to get to home.

Today, Breaking Ground and our partners at the African American Planning Commission, Inc. (AAPCI) took one step closer when we officially broke ground at Edwin’s Place to create 125 supportive and affordable apartments on a long-underutilized corner in Brownsville, Brooklyn. And the best is yet to come for this brand new community resource.

Families, individuals, veterans – Edwin’s Place will be a refuge for a diverse community of New Yorkers. As Brownsville continues to develop, we want to ensure that it remains affordable for low and extremely low-income households – that we make room for people from all walks of life, that we are a community who welcomes our most vulnerable neighbors and helps them thrive.
Brenda Rosen, President and CEO, Breaking Ground

Designed by the renowned Robert A.M. Stern Architects, Edwin’s Place will rise eight stories and feature 69 one, two, and three bedroom apartments, along with 56 micro-studios. A suite of offices for Breaking Ground and AAPCI staff on the ground floor will house building management and supportive services staff. A fitness room, computer lab, and multipurpose room that opens onto a landscaped courtyard will provide ample opportunity for social, recreation, and education activities. The warm beige brick facades will pick up the rhythms of the neighborhood's existing apartment buildings; a large glass and painted-metal window wall over the entry will provide a strong, identifiable focal point, both day and night, for the building.

Edwin’s Place continues Breaking Ground’s commitment to sustainable development. Rooftop photovoltaics will generate electricity for the building and drought-resistant plantings will minimize the heat-island effect and storm water runoff. Continuously insulated exterior walls and triple-glazed windows will not only reduce heating and cooling loads but also help mitigate the noise of the adjacent elevated train tracks.

With 88 units dedicated to formerly homeless families, individuals and veterans, Edwin’s Place will help our most vulnerable neighbors find a safe, stable home. The balance of 37 units will be home to low-income households, providing an affordable place to grow and thrive. We look forward to welcoming the first residents in 2020.

New developments rely on close partnerships, and we gratefully acknowledge our partners in bringing Edwin’s Place to life. The Corporation for Supportive Housing believed in us from the start, providing crucial pre-development funding. New York State Homes and Community Renewal, New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance partnered to provide capital financing. Wells Fargo invested in us through Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. Supportive services onsite will be funded through the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. And National Grid has provided an important grant to help us build out the 3,000 square foot community facility space that will open onto Livonia Avenue, providing key support to improve economic and community development in the Brownsville neighborhood.

We offer our extra special thanks to our marvelous partners at East Brooklyn Congregations, whose members joined so many Breaking Grounders at community meetings, public hearings, rallies on street corners, and in spirit in so many ways throughout this process – Edwin’s Place will be built because you lifted up your voices in unison. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

See the press release for more information.

Read More News