The last piece of the puzzle to the Melrose Commons Urban Renewal Project was unveiled by the city back in January 2017. Bronx Commons will have 305 affordable housing units, retail space, and a 300 seat capacity music hall and arts venue.
The new development, which is scheduled to be completed in 2019, will go up on the last undeveloped parcel of land within the Melrose Commons Urban Renewal Area. The mixed-use building will cover 426,000 sqft, with the music hall taking up 14,000 of that total. Bronx Commons will be open to families from 6 different income levels, starting as low as $4,000 and as high as $115,600 for middle income tenants, as well as, units set aside for formerly homeless individuals and families.
The Melrose Commons Urban Renewal project has been an ongoing revitalization of the area for more than 20 years. The project covers a 35-block area in the South Bronx around Melrose Avenue and East 161st Street. According to the timeline from MAP architects, 11 new developments have been completed in the last 17 years.
In 2010, Melrose Commons became the first of its kind in the state of New York to receive an LEED for Neighborhood Development Stage II Silver certification. In 2012, El Jardin de Selene was awarded an LEED-Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
While the urban renewal area isn't specifically a planned community like Parkchester, it serves the same purpose. Parkchester is a planned community in the Bronx that was developed in the 1940's by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company with 171 residential buildings across 129 acres. The community is self contained with retail stores, commercial space, and playgrounds. But, much like Parkchester the Melrose Commons area is filled with retail and community spaces.
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