Winner of Affordable, Sustainable Housing Competition in New York City

New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Shaun Donovan and Mark Ginsberg, FAIA, 2004 President of New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIANY), today announced Phipps-Rose-Dattner-Grimshaw (PRDG) as the winning architect-developer team of New York City’s first juried design competition for affordable and sustainable housing. The competition, known as the New Housing New York (NHNY) Legacy Project, emerged from a collaboration between the NHNY Steering Committee, HPD, AIANY, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the Enterprise Community Partners to encourage the integration of sustainability and design excellence with affordable housing. Located in the South Bronx, the competition site was a 60,000 square foot vacant lot that consists of City-owned property and a legally abandoned rail right-of-way. Currently valued at $4 million, the site will be sold by the City to PRDG for a nominal fee in exchange for the design and construction of a mixed-use development that includes affordable housing for New Yorkers of low-, middle-, and moderate-incomes. An exhibition of the winning team’s proposal will be on view March 22 – June 16, 2007 at the Center for Architecture. The exhibition will highlight how the project functions as a replicable model for sustainable affordable housing in New York City and other urban communities.