Most Pro-Housing Administration in City History: Mayor Adams, Grand Street Guild, Catholic Homes of New York Advance 190 Deeply-Affordable Apartments for Seniors on Lower East Side

July 16, 2025

Ridge Street Apartments Will Also Set Aside 30 Percent of Units for Formerly-Homeless Seniors, Offer Robust Slate of Social Services

Announcement Builds on Record Amount of Senior Housing Created Last Year Under Adams Administration

Closing Comes Ahead of Adams Administration's Fiscal Year 2025 Production Numbers Announcement

New York – New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Acting Commissioner Ahmed Tigani, Grand Street Guild, and Catholic Homes of New York today announced the financing of Ridge Street Apartments, a 100-percent affordable building for seniors located at 145 Broome Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side. The 16-story building – which is part of the city's Senior Affordable Rental Apartments (SARA) program and located at the intersection of Broome Street and Ridge Street – will offer a mix of 190 studio and one-bedroom apartments for low-income seniors 62 and older at or below 50 percent of area median income. Additionally, 30 percent of the units will be available to formerly homeless seniors 55 and older. HPD has awarded project-based vouchers for all residential units, and the project will include an additional unit for a superintendent. Ridge Street Apartments – which will offer a robust slate of social services, feature ample tenant facilities, and include an outdoor seating area – is expected to cost $176 million, with the Adams administration contributing $32 million. The entire development will be contained within Grand Street Guild's existing park-like campus and builds on the Adams administration's record as the most pro-housing administration in city history, including announcing records amounts of senior housing. In addition to creating record amounts of affordable and senior housing last year, passing the first citywide zoning reform in 60 years, and advancing five neighborhood plans to create jobs and new housing across the city, new housing like the Ridge Street Apartments will help New York City reach Mayor Adams' moonshot goal of creating 500,000 new homes by 2032.

"Getting older should not mean having to move out. We want our older New Yorkers to stay right here in the city they love, and this investment in 190 new affordable apartments for older adults will help us meet that mission," said Mayor Adams. "From creating a record amount of senior housing last year to educating over 1,600 frontline health care workers on helping older patients age in place, our administration is proud to be delivering the housing, help, and health care that senior New Yorkers, and all New Yorkers, deserve as we make our city more affordable and the best place to live and thrive."

"The Ridge Street Apartments is yet another example of this administration's commitment to supporting older New Yorkers across the city," said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Adolfo Carrion, Jr. "As the most pro-housing administration in city history, we are providing 190 older adult households affordability, stability, and comfort through our historic investments in housing. Congratulations to our partners for advancing such an impactful project."

"The Ridge Street Apartments project represents 190 important steps in the right direction – one for every affordable senior housing unit this project is creating. Each unit helps us advance HPD's core mission of providing a safe, affordable place to call home for every New Yorker," said HPD Acting Commissioner Tigani. "At 145 Broome Street, we are excited to support our city's older New Yorkers and provide 100 percent affordable housing right in the heart of the Lower East Side. By creating recreational, educational, and outdoor spaces, we are working to keep residents connected with one another by developing buildings that are more than just places to live – but instead, places to thrive."

"Senior New Yorkers deserve a stable, decent home. Catholic Charities is proud that 145 Broome Street's 191 apartments will provide an affordable home to seniors and their families, allowing them to age gracefully and remain in their communities," said Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, executive director, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York. "Thanks to our work together with the Grand Street Guild, and financing from our partners in government, we will be providing a new home to our lower-income senior neighbors at a time when they need it the most."

"Our mission is to provide quality housing that offers stability and allows our diverse community to grow and thrive," said Kevin Cronin, chair, Grand Street Guild's Board of Directors. "For over 50 years, we have carefully managed this 3.75-acre complex on the Lower East Side. Given our city's urgent need for truly affordable housing, Grand Street Guild's goal is to create new housing, enhanced social services, and amenities for those who need it with a special emphasis on the growing population of senior citizens."

Ridge Street Apartments will deliver 190 truly-affordable homes for seniors on the Lower East Side. Credit: Handel Architects LLP.

Designed by world-renowned firm Handel Architects, the building will be constructed by Monadnock Construction, an industry leader in the creation of affordable housing. The project – which has been awarded a New York state Energy Research and Development Authority Future Housing Initiative incentive award – will be all-electric and achieve Passive House certification. Wavecrest Management is the lease-up agent and property manager, and Forsyth Street Affordable Housing is the project's financial consultant. The project is financed by HPD, the New York City Housing Development Corporation, Richman Housing Resources, and Citibank National Association. This project was also made possible, in part, by federal HOME funds administered by HPD.

As with all Grand Street Guild's affordable buildings, a robust slate of social services will be offered at Ridge Street Apartments by Catholic Charities Community Services, the New York City Human Resources Administration-approved senior service provider. Construction is expected to start in the second half of 2025, with anticipated completion in the first quarter of 2028.

Since entering office, Mayor Adams has made historic investments to create more affordable housing and ensure more New Yorkers have a place to call home. The Adams administration is advancing several robust neighborhood plans that, if adopted, would deliver more than 50,000 units over the next 15 years to New York neighborhoods. In addition to the Bronx-Metro North Station Area Plan and the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan, both of which have been passed by the New York City Council, the Adams administration is advancing plans in Midtown South in Manhattan, as well as Jamaica and Long Island City in Queens.

Moreover, last December, Mayor Adams celebrated the passage of "City of Yes for Housing Opportunity," the most pro-housing proposal in city history that will build 80,000 new homes over 15 years and invest $5 billion towards critical infrastructure updates and housing. In June 2024, City Hall and the New York City Council agreed to an on-time, balanced, and fiscally-responsible $112.4 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Adopted Budget that invested $2 billion in capital funds across FY25 and FY26 to HPD and the New York City Housing Authority capital budgets. In total, the Adams administration has committed $24.7 billion in housing capital in the current 10-year plan as the city faces a generational housing crisis. Over the last two years, Mayor Adams celebrated back-to-back record breaking fiscal years, as well as back-to-back calendar years, in both creating and connecting New Yorkers to affordable housing. In the spring of 2024, the city celebrated the largest 100 percent affordable housing project in 40 years with the Willets Point transformation. 

Building on the success of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, Mayor Adams unveiled his "City of Yes for Families" strategy earlier this year to build more homes and create more family-friendly neighborhoods across New York City. Under City of Yes for Families, the Adams administration is advancing more housing on city-owned sites, creating new tools to support homeownership, and building more housing alongside schools, playgrounds, grocery stores, accessible transit stations, and libraries.

Further, the Adams administration is using every tool available to address the city's housing crisis. Mayor Adams announced multiple new tools, including a $4 million state grant, to help New York City homeowners create accessory dwelling units that will not only help older adults afford to remain in the communities they call home but also help build generational wealth for families. In addition to creating more housing opportunities, the Adams administration is actively working to strengthen tenant protections and support homeowners. The "Partners in Preservation" program was expanded citywide in 2024 through a $24 million investment in local organizations to support tenant organizing and combat harassment in rent-regulated housing. The Homeowner Help Desk, a trusted one-stop shop for low-income homeowners to receive financial and legal counseling from local organizations, was also expanded citywide in 2024 with a $13 million funding commitment.

Finally, Mayor Adams and members of his administration successfully advocated for new tools in the 2024 New York state budget that will spur the creation of urgently needed housing. These tools include a new tax incentive for multifamily rental construction, a tax incentive program to encourage office conversions to create more affordable units, lifting the arbitrary "floor-to-area ratio" cap that held back affordable housing production in certain high-demand areas of the city, and the ability to create a pilot program to legalize and make safe basement apartments.