Hudson Companies, Gilbane to convert Bronx jail into $300M affordable housing complex

Hudson Companies, one of the developers behind the La Central complex, is doubling down in the Bronx, with plans to convert the now-shuttered Spofford Juvenile Detention Center into a $300 million affordable housing complex.

The David Kramer-led firm and partners Gilbane Development and the Mutual Housing Association of New York submitted the winning proposal to dramatically remake the closed Hunts Point juvenile detention center, the Wall Street Journal reported. Details of the project, dubbed “the Peninsula,” are due to be detailed by the city today.

The five-acre site on Spofford Avenue will feature 740 units of affordable housing, 52,000 square feet of recreational space and 49,000 square feet of light industrial space, the Journal reported. There will also be 21,000 square feet of retail space and 48,000 square feet dedicated to community facilities. It is expected to house a grocery store, bakery and a bank. The complex is is slated for completion in 2024, according to the Journal.

Hudson Companies [TRDataCustom] is one of several developers behind the La Central affordable housing complex in Melrose, a 1 million-square-foot, 992-unit project with an estimated cost of $345 million. The development is one of the key projects in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s goal to create or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing in the next decade.

Aaron Koffman, a principal at Hudson Companies, told the Journal that Spofford would also include apartments designed for moderate income levels. Units would be made available for households making between 30 and 90 percent of Area Median Income, according to the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

“The whole neighborhood is going to go on a different path,” Koffman said.

As The Real Deal reported earlier this year, developers and investors spent an estimated $1.1 billion in the South Bronx in 2015, a record. [WSJ] — Miriam Hall