Rose, Phipps’ Via Verde opens in the Bronx

Green, affordable housing complex is first of its kind

Via Verde, a green affordable housing complex in the Melrose Section of the South Bronx, officially opened its doors today — and Mayor Michael Bloomberg and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan were there to celebrate.

The 222-unit rental and co-op building — developed by Phipps Houses and Jonathan Rose Companies and designed by Dattner Architects and Grimshaw Architects — was the winning proposal of the city’s first juried design competition for affordable and sustainable housing, according to a press release issued today by the Mayor’s office.

The development of the gold-LEED certified Via Verde was born out of the mayor’s New Housing Marketplace Plan, a multi-billion dollar initiative geared to finance a total of 165,000 units of affordable housing by the end of fiscal year 2014.

The Via Verde site, located at 700 Brook Avenue and East 165th Street, includes 151 units of low-income rental housing, and 71 moderate- and middle-income co-op homes.

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According to the release, the low-income rental units are now fully leased and 56 of the co-op units have been sold. As The Real Deal previously reported, the rents range from $800 to $1,200.

The co-op units range from 800-square-foot one-bedrooms to 1,500-square-foot three-bedrooms, and cost between$135,000 and $193,000. Purchasers’ household income restrictions vary from $61,450 to $134,400, according to the Mayor’s office release.

The affordable housing co-ops were sold through a lottery, which took place in November; a lottery for the rental units was held the following month. — Zachary Kussin