Melrose Commons, a once-dilapidated South Bronx neighborhood that underwent a massive redevelopment as a 35-block urban renewal zone, has been awarded LEED Stage II silver Certification for Neighborhood Development by the U.S. Green Building Council. The award recognizes the sustainable design and redevelopment of the urban renewal area and is the first time the certification has been awarded in the state. The urban renewal project, which began in 1994, has included the construction of mixed-income housing, according to Christine Hunter, a principal with MAP Green, the architecture firm that helped design the project, along with developer Melrose Associates. “We felt strongly that Melrose Commons should be certified because, from the start, the neighborhood-based team was committed to pedestrian-oriented mixed-use, mixed-income development, maintaining open space and incorporating sustainable design and construction techniques,” Hunter said. TRD

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]