Yonkers completes latest addition to Ridgeway revitalization project
An eight-story, 85-unit apartment building at 172 Warburton Ave. in Yonkers has been completed.
It was built as part of the plan by the Municipal Housing Authority for the City of Yonkers (MHACY) to revitalize the public housing complex formerly known as Cottage Place Gardens. The modernized complex is named The Ridgeway.
The construction of 172 Warburton Ave. came in the fourth phase of the six-phase Ridgeway program, the entire cost of which has been estimated at $296 million.
The overall project will create more than 500 new and renovated apartments in the southwest Yonkers neighborhood along Warburton Avenue, north of Ashburton Avenue and south of Lamartine.
172 Warburton contains a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments. Rents on 65 of the units will be affordable to households earning at or below 60% of the area median income (AMI) while twenty apartments will be for those earning up to 90% of the AMI.
Work already has begun on phase five of the project, which involves constructing another eight-story building that will be at 178 Warburton Ave. The phase five building is to include a new Early Head Start day care center with eight classrooms, a family resources room and other facilities.
The completion of 172 Warburton was celebrated on Oct. 29 with a gathering of city, county and state officials at the new building.
Although she didn”™t attend, Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a statement in which she said, “Southwest Yonkers has a vibrant history, and this new public housing complex will provide residents with modern, high-quality affordable homes while also strengthening the entire community.”
New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) has provided a portion of the funding for the Ridgeway project. Since 2011, HCR has provided more than $414 million to create or preserve nearly 3,300 housing units in Yonkers.
The Community Builders, a nonprofit developer of mixed-income housing, were another partner on the project and on the larger Cottage Place Gardens revitalization effort.
HCR Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said, “In partnership with MHACY and The Community Builders, we are driving the complete transformation of this neighborhood by replacing outdated buildings with modern apartments and a new pre-kindergarten facility to benefit the entire community. With the completion of 172 Warburton, our investment has yielded 327 newly constructed homes across four phases of development.”
According to Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano, “The redevelopment of Cottage Gardens into The Ridgeway is yet another example of how Yonkers is revitalizing our neighborhoods and improving the lives of all our residents. As we see luxury housing rising along the riverfront, it is also important that we provide quality affordable housing so all boats rise with the tide.”
MHACY President and CEO Wilson Kimball said, “We are very grateful to New York state, Westchester County, the City of Yonkers and our partners at The Community Builders for making this level of quality affordable housing available to our tenants.”
MHACY has a property portfolio valued at approximately $750 million. The Community Builders is a nonprofit real estate developer that owns or manages more than 13,000 apartments in 14 states.