Three big development projects in Manhattan’s Inwood neighborhood are finally reaching major milestones in 2024, almost six years after the area was controversially rezoned. The Daily News got an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at some of what’s in store.
The Eliza (4790 Broadway)
The Eliza, a combination of “deeply” affordable apartments, community space and a new public library branch, is perhaps the most well-known new building to come out of the Inwood rezoning. The 14-story project was spearheaded years ago by the city — despite local campaigning to save the original library — and is nearing completion.
The 174 affordable units are a mix of studios and one- to three-bedroom apartments, with several reserved for the formerly homeless. Monthly rents range from $397 to $1,066 for a studio and $683 to $1,841 for a three-bedroom. Approximately 80,000 households applied for the 174 slots through the city’s housing lottery, according to Manhattan borough president Mark Levine. Residents will have access to a laundry room, lounge, gym, terrace and other amenities.
The new library branch will occupy the bottom two floors and include community spaces, a skylight and separate areas for children and teens.
A pre-K run by the Department of Education will take about 40 students starting next September. There are also a number of community spaces, including a teaching kitchen and STEM center.
The Eliza — named for Alexander Hamilton’s wife — is set to open in May.
North Cove (375 West 207th St.)
These days the intersection of W. 207th St. and Ninth Ave. is buzzing with the sounds of construction as work continues on several large projects by the University Heights Bridge, directly across the river from the Bronx. One of those is North Cove, a 611-unit development from Maddd Equities and Joy Construction.
The building will have three sections reaching eight, 17 and 30 floors high, according to project manager Mark Schwartz. It will house a mix of incomes, from the formerly homeless to those earning up to 110% of area median income. There will be waterfront space and retail options, including a Food Bazaar outlet.
North Cove will tower over most of the surrounding area when it opens, likely sometime in June.
Adolfo Carrión Jr., commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), said such change is necessary amid the city’s ongoing housing crisis.
“Nothing stays the same in New York, and it shouldn’t,” he told the Daily News during a recent site visit. “This is old manufacturing sites. They were ugly, they were underutilized, and they prevented access to the waterfront. … Now you’re going to have families here. You’re going to have access to the waterfront, you’re going to have economic opportunity. What’s not to like?”
4095 Ninth Ave.
While The Eliza is on the cusp of completion, another publicly owned Inwood site is likely years away from breaking ground.
The empty parking lot at 4095 Ninth Ave. — at the northern tip of Manhattan, a stone’s throw from the Broadway Bridge connecting to Marble Hill — may not look like much now. But the city has big plans for the weed-strewn property on the Harlem River waterfront.
The goal is to build 570 affordable homes with a STEM center and open green space along the riverfront. To that end, HPD is launching a community engagement process in coming days to solicit public feedback that will then be incorporated into a request for proposals to determine the future of the site.
The RFP process was delayed by several years, as The News previously reported, due to the pandemic, a lawsuit against the Inwood rezoning and HPD staffing shortages.
“I think everybody wants to live on the waterfront, and the Harlem River Valley has been begging for this type of development,” Carrión said. “This whole valley offers a tremendous opportunity to change the game here, in Inwood and in the western Bronx.”
