Construction begins at Rheingold site
It’s official! Rheingold Senior Residences broke ground on November 19 at 15 Montieth Street on part of the site that was the Rheingold Brewery. Southside United HDFC–Los Sures (Los Sures) and Churches United for Fair Housing (CUFFH) have partnered to develop Rheingold Senior Residences, which will be eight stories with 94-units with the goal to set a new standard for deeply affordable housing for seniors. The project is supported the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s (HPD) Senior Affordable Rental Apartments (SARA) program.
The building will consist of one-bedroom and studio apartments that will house angled “sleeping alcoves” to provide a sense of privacy and dignity and separate sitting and dining areas within the overall studio space. To promote social interaction, each floor includes a day-lit lounge where residents can gather and connect to the outdoors. Additionally, apartment entrances are recessed from the corridor with a shelf for convenience and to encourage individualization so that seniors can easily identify their own and others’ units. Los Sures will manage the property and offer activities such as gardening, art, poetry and healthy cooking classes, as well as more traditional social services. The total development cost for the project is approximately $67M.
“Southside United HDFC – Los Sures’s commitment to seniors in our community remains a priority for our organization. This development will provide affordability and direct services needed to protect the aging and vulnerable population in our city and its energy saving design will help preserve the planet for their grandchildren,” said Juan Ramos, executive director of Los Sures.
Rob Solano, executive director and co-founder of CUFFH, said, “Rheingold Senior Residences will provide much needed deeply affordable housing and direct services for our seniors in Bushwick. Our hope is that these residences, with their sustainable design, will remain a standard in the continuation of providing affordable supportive housing for our aging communities.”
“This Administration has aggressively pushed to put the dwindling supply of vacant sites to work for affordable housing. Through this initiative, the old Rheingold brewery site will soon give way to more than 90 new affordable and sustainable homes for low-income seniors. I want to thank Los Sures and CUFFH for their creativity and commitment to pushing this important project forward,” said HPD Commissioner Louise Carroll.
Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez said, “Too often, expensive prices at senior residences put an unnecessary strain on seniors looking for new and affordable housing. Seniors are a vital part of our community and with construction beginning today, this project will help to ensure that they can continue to live in the neighborhood.”
Mayor-elect Eric Adams said, “I applaud its creative use of age-friendly and sustainable features. I was proud to allocate $1.5 million in funding to the development, and look forward to partnering with Los Sures and CUFFH to advance affordability for our seniors.”
The Greenline 