$125M Hell’s Kitchen Affordable Housing Development

Photo Credit: Douglaston Development

Located at 509 West 48^th Street, Rialto West will deliver 158 affordable residences, state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor amenities and more than 5,500 square feet of ground-floor cultural space.

Today, a joint venture team of Douglaston Development and the Entertainment Community Fund announced closing on the construction financing for Rialto West, an 8-story, 140,000-square-foot, 158-unit 100% affordable multifamily development for low- and moderate- income residents located at 509 West 48^th Street 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 Avenue. 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.

“Once complete, Rialto West will offer over 150 brand new affordable homes in a particularly high-cost area of New York City,” said HDC President Eric Enderlin. “HDC is proud to partner on this collaborative effort and look forward to delivering much-needed affordable housing to the Hell’s Kitchen community.”

“Rialto West represents a promise to create more affordable homes in high-cost Manhattan neighborhoods, ensuring that all New Yorkers, regardless of income, have access to safe, secure, and affordable homes,” said HPD Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. “We eagerly anticipate the 158 permanently affordable housing units that will soon welcome new families into this vibrant community, and we thank our partners for helping make this a reality.”

“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.”

“Thanks to years of thoughtful planning from Community Board 4, strong support from City Council Member Erik Bottcher, former Speaker Corey Johnson, and other elected officials, this project will create much-needed affordable housing to serve a wide range of income levels plus the adjacent public park named after the pioneering playwright and activist, Lorraine Hansberry,” said Daniel Arnow, Executive Director of the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation, a subsidiary of the Entertainment Community Fund. “We’re also excited to partner with IndieSpace as the Community Facility tenant who provides critical affordable workspace for artists and the creative community. 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.”

“It truly takes a village to build successful affordable housing in New York City. We are grateful to our incredible partners at NYC HPD, NYC HDC, NYC Department of Environmental Protection, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, FDNY, Amtrak, our elected and public officials at the city, state and federal level, our talented consultant team led by S9 Architecture, and so many others who made this milestone possible,” said Liz Oakley, Executive Vice President of Affordable Development at Douglaston. “This extraordinary coordination effort will bring critically needed, high-quality 100% permanently affordable housing, cultural and open space to a fantastic location in Hell’s Kitchen for generations to come.”

The New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and NYC 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.

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.

Rialto West delivers on the promise for affordable housing at the site made fifteen years ago in the Western Railyards Rezoning Points of Agreement. The NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) issued a public Request for Proposals to develop two Hell’s Kitchen sites in 2018 and Douglaston was awarded the Rialto West site in February 2019. The development completed ULURP in October 2022.

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.

About Douglaston Development

Douglaston Development is a New York City-based real estate developmentcompany, specializing in a wide range of projects from mixed-use developments, high-rise mixed-income rentals and market-rate condominiums, hospitality, senior communities and commercial spaces. Working in close collaboration with its affiliated construction and management companies, Levine Builders and Clinton Management, Douglaston Development has the advantage of being one of the few owner-builder-managers in the industry with expertise in successful acquisition, ground-up and rehabilitation construction and management of properties post-development. Over the past 40 years, the company has expanded its portfolio to include properties located in New York, Arizona, and Washington.

For more information, please visit: www.douglastondevelopment.com.

About The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) promotes quality and affordability in the city’s housing, and diversity and strength in the city’s neighborhoods – because every New Yorker deserves a safe, affordable place to live in a neighborhood they love. We maintain building and resident safety and health, create opportunities for New Yorkers through housing affordability, and engage New Yorkers to build and sustain neighborhood strength and diversity. HPD is entrusted with fulfilling these objectives through the goals and strategies of Housing Our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness, Mayor Adams’ comprehensive housing framework. To learn more about what we do, visit nyc.gov/hpd and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @NYCHousing.

About the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation

The Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC) was created to develop new affordable housing opportunities for the performing arts and entertainment community. AFHDC brings together educational programming, advocacy, marketing, and real estate development with the goal of increasing access to affordable housing opportunities for the communities we serve. AFHDC is a subsidiary of the Entertainment Community Fund. The Entertainment Community Fund, formerly The Actors Fund, is a national human services organization that addresses the unique needs of people who work in performing arts and entertainment with services focused on health and wellness, career and life, and housing. Since 1882, the Fund has sought to ensure stability, encourage resiliency and be a safety net for those who shape our country’s cultural vibrancy. Learn more at entertainmentcommunity.org.

About The New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC)

The New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) is the nation’s largest municipal Housing Finance Agency and seeks to increase the supply of multi-family housing, stimulate economic growth and revitalize neighborhoods by financing the creation and preservation of affordable housing for low-, moderate-, and middle-income New Yorkers. HDC also serves as a key financing partner in the rehabilitation of our city’s public housing stock under the NYCHA Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) initiative.

Since 2003, HDC has financed more than 210,000 housing units using over $31 billion in bonds and other debt obligations and provided in excess of $3 billion in subsidy from corporate reserves and other available funds held by the corporation. HDC ranks among the nation’s top issuers of mortgage revenue bonds for affordable multi-family housing on Thomson Reuter’s annual list of multi-family bond issuers. In each of the last five consecutive years, HDC’s annual bond issuance has averaged $2 billion.