Supporters and dignitaries gathered on Pitt Street today to celebrate the completion of “The Lee,” a 263-unit supportive housing facility. The building, a project of New York City non-profit Common Ground, will provide homes for 104 homeless adults and 103 low-income residents from the Lower East Side. Following a brief program in Hamilton Fish Park (across the street), there was a ribbon cutting in front of The Lee.
The $59 million building was developed under the city’s New Housing Mrketplace Plan, which is meant to preserve 165,000 units of affordable housing by the year 2014. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development provided $24.6 million for the project. The NYC Housing Development Corp. made possible $31 million in tax-exempt bond financing. The state’s Homeless Housing and Assistance Program contributed an addition $6.5 million.
The Lee is named for Lee Larson of the Larson Family Foundation (which also helped fund construction). The development includes a community event space available to neighborhood residents. Fifty five units will be reserved for young people aging out of foster care. Youth development services (including job training and counseling) are being provided by The Door (University Settlement).
The site on which the Lee is built, 133 Pitt Street, has had a contentious history. After the Boys’ Club considered selling the property to a market rate developer almost a decade ago, it came to light that the former urban renewal site could only be used as a community-based facility.
This morning Michael Zisser of University Settlement said the Common Ground project is a testament not only to Common Ground’s vision but also the Lower East Side’s determination to protect the “most vulnerable members of our community.” Community Board 3 and Lisa Kaplan, Councilmember Rosie Mendez’s chief of staff, were very active in fighting to keep the Boys Club site from becoming a market rate residential building.
