The redevelopment of a once blighted and crime-ridden public housing complex in Yonkers continues this summer with a $23 million construction project that will add 56 units of affordable housing in the city”™s Ashburton Avenue corridor.
Private developers and city and state officials joined in a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for Grant Park II on the former site of Mulford Gardens, a sprawling 155-apartment complex that was razed in 2008. The first phase of the  new development, Grant Park at Croton Heights, was completed in 2012 with the opening of 100 apartments in four buildings and a playground and community center on the site.
Grant Park II, being built along Loehr Place and Whetstone Avenue, will include one-, two- and three-bedroom rental units in two four-story buildings. Yonkers officials said they will be rented to individuals and households earning at or below 60 percent of the area median income.
The project is expected to be completed in September 2015. Later phases of the Grant Park at Croton Heights development will bring the total number of apartment units to 240.
Developers in the public-private partnership formed for the Ashburton Avenue corridor redevelopment are the Richman Group Development Corp., of Greenwich, Conn., and Landex Development L.L.C., of Linthicum, Md. Their public partners are the Yonkers Municipal Housing Authority, New York State Homes and Community Renewal and the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency.
The Grant Park II project was financed by New York State Homes and Community Renewal, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Community Development Trust and the Richman Group Affordable Housing Corp. The Yonkers IDA provided tax incentives to the developers.
“This is the latest phase of transforming the deteriorated Mulford Gardens into modern and desirable homes for the people of Yonkers,” Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said in a statement after the groundbreaking. “We”™re not just providing better homes for people who need them, but we”™re providing a better neighborhood, and that helps the entire city. This is another step forward for the city of Yonkers.”
