Brooklyn, NY

New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development issued an RFP for Grant Avenue Commons out of interest in the potential of modular construction to provide affordable high quality housing. Working with the development group, ALMAT, we designed a 190-unit-affordable housing mixed-use complex of prefabricated steel modules to be installed on a site built concrete base. Using only a few modular dimensions and types, the building provides a range of apartment types from studio, one, two, and three bedrooms with different layouts for senior citizens, formerly homeless individuals, and households that fall between 30% to 80% Area Medium Income (AMI).

This project will also serve as an anchor for the community and the surrounding urban fabric. The buildings combine community space, a rooftop garden, a ground floor daycare center and several outdoor recreation spaces with a range of public access. The interior courtyard connects to an urban path that extends from the Robert E. Venable Park on one side to a local commercial corridor on Liberty Avenue on the other. Community residents on the way to the Grant Avenue subway can traverse the courtyard along its defined public walkways.

Project Team:

Gans and Company: Deborah Gans

Developer: ALMAT