Acacia Gardens

Organization Name: Acacia Network, with Magnusson Architecture and Planning

Project Title: Acacia Gardens

Project Location: 413 East 120th Street, New York, NY

Project Goals:
Acacia Network’s vision of building healthy neighborhoods and integrating health care services with affordable housing developments for all residents is realized in Acacia Gardens. The project was funded under HPD’s Extremely Low and Low-Income Affordability (ELLA) Program. The ELLA Program funds the new construction of low-income multi-family rental projects affordable to households earning up to $48,960 for a household of three. It is also one of the first projects to receive financing from the City’s Our Space Initiative which funds construction of rental units for formerly homeless households.

Project Description:
Acacia Gardens will be a new 12-story brick building on the corner of East 120th Street and First Avenue in East Harlem. The development will create 179 new affordable homes for extremely low- and low-income residents, some of whom are formerly homeless. The once New York City-owned site, primarily used for parking, will now host affordable housing apartments within 183,000 SF of residential space. The building will also include space for commercial and retail uses, a roof deck with lounging area and activity space for the residents, as well as 29 surface level parking spaces.

Community Impact:
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s constructed the Housing New York: A Five-Borough, 10-Year Housing Plan in order to create 200,000 units of new affordable housing and address the City’s affordability crisis across all income brackets up to the middle class.

Organization Description:
Magnusson Architecture and Planning is a creative design firm based in New York City. For 30 years MAP has been committed to the original intent of creating thriving and sustainable communities through excellence in design and planning. MAP endures as an award-winning, comprehensive firm specializing in the design and planning of large scale residential and mixed use developments, educational, sacred and civic spaces. Since 1969 the Latino based agencies that make up the Acacia Network have matured into a dynamic and unified community based organization offering a unique constellation of services in the area of health, housing, and economic development. Our goal is to provide a safe and healthy environ- ment for every individual combined with opportunities for ownership. All tenants are part of the larger Acacia Network’s family and are linked to our healthcare, social services, and economic development projects.