In a historic milestone that was 15 years in the making, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano joined with officials from the city, state, county and federal government along with the Yonkers Housing Authority, Mulford Corporation and The Community Builders (TCB) to celebrate the groundbreaking for Willow at The Ridgeway.
It is the sixth and final phase of the transformative redevelopment of the former Cottage Place Gardens public housing complex into a mixed-income community of choice.
“Willow at The Ridgeway will provide our city’s seniors with housing that is both attractively designed as well as energy efficient with outstanding amenities,” Spano said. “In just the past few years, our residential developments have created over 7,500 new housing units — both market-rate and affordable — and nearly 9,000 construction jobs. Importantly, 10% of all new residential units are set aside for affordable housing.”
Located at 23 Bishop W.J. Walls Place, Willow at The Ridgeway will replace three vacant public housing buildings with a new eight-story, all-electric, 100% affordable building with 92 units for seniors. The unit mix includes 85 one-bedroom units and seven two-bedroom units, with average unit sizes of 550 and 800 square feet, respectively. Thirty-one units are reserved for households at or below 30% of the area median income (AMI), 29 units are reserved for households at or below 50% AMI, and 32 units are reserved for households at or below 60% AMI. All apartments will be designed for an aging population and reserved for seniors referred from the Yonkers Housing Authority Section 8 waitlist.
Tenants will have access to on-site property management, maintenance and resident services and programming. Yonkers Housing Authority, TCB and Mulford will also cultivate relationships with local partners, such as the Yonkers Office of Aging, to offer additional services through direct referrals. Lastly, the building is transit-orientated, located near multiple bus lines and a train station serving Metro-North and Amtrak lines.
From left, Joan Deierlein and Denise Egiziaco, MHACY Board of Commissioners; Jesse Batus, The Community Builders Inc.; Linda Malave, Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council; City Council President Lakisha Collins-Bellamy; City Council Member Deana Norman; Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins; Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins; Mayor Mike Spano; County Legislator Shanae Williams; City Council Member John Rubbo and Ross Karp, Downstate Development Director, New York State Homes & Community Renewal.
