A joint venture team of Douglaston Development and the Entertainment Community Fund announced closing on the construction financing for Rialto West, an eight-story, 140,000-square-foot, 158-unit, 100% affordable multifamily development for low- and moderate- income residents located at 509 West 48th St. in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen.
In addition to the residential apartments, the development’s ground floor will include more than 5,500 square feet of cultural space, as well as a public restroom facing an approximately 25,000 square foot public plaza that will be built at 705 Tenth Ave. The public open space will be operated by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation for public use and is to be named after Lorraine Hansberry, the famed playwright and author of “A Raisin in the Sun”. Construction on both aspects of the $125 million project is slated to begin this month.
The New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) provided a combined total of more than $106 million in a senior recycled tax-exempt bond funded loans and subsidy loans, including city housing infrastructure fund loan for the foundation platform overbuild spanning the active Amtrak Empire line at the residential building base and grant funding for the plaza construction.
“We are thrilled to be expanding our footprint across Manhattan’s West Side, in partnership with The Entertainment Community Fund, and providing critical affordable housing and designated artist spaces to the community,” said Jeffrey Levine, chairman of Douglaston Development. “We look forward to advancing this exemplary project involving the many City entities that have banded together to deliver a much-needed affordable housing resource to our city.”
Rialto West will deliver 158 permanently affordable housing units, a mix of studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units that will be available to low- to middle-income households earning up to 140% of the area median income (AMI). Fifteen percent of the units will be dedicated to serving formerly homeless households. Shared resident amenity spaces will include a fitness center, laundry room and bicycle storage area. The building’s ground floor will include approximately 5,500 square feet of cultural space. The JV owner team has been in discussions with Indie Space to lease and operate rehearsal and co-working spaces geared towards area artists, a resource often out of reach for many due to limited space and rental costs.
“We’re also excited to partner with IndieSpace as the Community Facility tenant who provides critical affordable workspace for artists and the creative community,” said Daniel Arnow, eexecutive director of the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation, a subsidiary of the Entertainment Community Fund. “With our deep roots in the neighborhood, we’re thrilled to be partnering with Douglaston Development on Rialto West and deliver this long-term community asset to Hell’s Kitchen.”
Levine Builders, the general contracting affiliate of Douglaston Development, will construct the residential building and the public plaza. Clinton Management, the management affiliate of Douglaston, will manage the building upon completion. The project is slated for final completion in 2026.
