In its latest effort to revitalize the South Bronx and ramp up housing options for the city’s low- and middle-income residents, the city has chosen Briarwood Organization for a new 260-unit affordable housing development in Melrose Commons. The $90 million project, which will also include 27,500 square feet of retail space, is slated for one of three remaining city-owned parcels in the Melrose Commons North Urban Renewal Area, where the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development is overseeing the creation of 770 affordable housing units in total. Briarwood and partners CPC Resources and the Bridge are exploring a variety of financing options. The site is part of 5.5 acres of land between East 161st and 163rd streets, between Courtlandt, Melrose and Ettona avenues. Phipps House Group and a partnership between Blue Sea Development and WHEDCo were also recently tapped by the city to build affordable housing complexes on sections of that land. [Crain's]

In Far Rockaway, some developers are abandoning projects, resulting in vacant homes and unfinished developments. For decades, land in Far Rockaway was vacant until the city partnered with the Briarwood Organization in 1999 to bring below-market-rate waterfront housing to the area. “Every time the economy rises, everybody and his brother wants to be a developer. And as soon as there is a glitch in the economy, these so-called developers run for the hills,” said Vincent Riso, a managing member of Briarwood. When developers suddenly stop building, construction jobs disappear, hurting the local job market. The city has been working to assume many of the buildings that have been boarded up and abandoned in order to increase neighboring property values.