Housing developers celebrated the completion of two new affordable housing properties within the sprawling La Central residential complex in the Melrose section of the Bronx, earlier this week, as reported by YIMBY.

Located at 556 and 600 Bergen Avenue, buildings A and B comprise nearly 500 income-restricted units, a new YMCA, a production studio for BronxNet, a rooftop farm operated by GrowNYC, and a mix of retail businesses.

Within both buildings, residential layouts range from studios to four-bedroom apartments, and are available exclusively to residents earning between 30 percent and 100 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI).

Speaking at the opening of the first units, Bronx Borough President Ruben Díaz Jr. said, “La Central is a monumental project that will bring more than 1,000 affordably and sustainably built units to The Hub, and will transform not only the neighborhood, but the borough and the city by serving as a model of how to do affordable development right.” He added, “In addition to affordable and supportive housing, Buildings A and B will start off this development right, with a state-of-the-art YMCA, retail space, and a newly renovated BronxNet Television production studio coming to Melrose.”

Designed by MHG Architects, FXCollaborative, and Future Green Studio, La Central will eventually include five individual buildings. The residential component will include more than 1,000 affordable apartments, 80,000 square feet of community facilities, 45,000 square feet of retail, a public skatepark, and a roof-mounted telescope to be controlled by the Bronx High School of Science.

The project development team includes The Hudson Companies, BRP Companies, ELH-TKC, Breaking Ground, and Comunlife. Breaking Ground and Comunilife completed development of a 160-unit supportive housing and low-income building (Building D) as part of the overall La Central development in 2019.

Andrew Cohen, managing director at BRP Companies, said the occasion was very special as the doors to buildings A and B were opened, delivering 500 new affordable rental housing units to the Melrose community, as well as social and shared community spaces to the neighborhood.

“We’re very proud to work alongside The Hudson Companies, ELH-TKC, Breaking Ground, and Comunilife on this development, which will have a tremendous impact on the lives of so many local residents, and will help to revitalize this great neighborhood,” he said.

As reported last year by both Norwood News and YIMBY, La Central was originally expected to be completed in 2023.

Editor’s Note: Norwood News does not coordinate the application process. Please visit nyc.gov/housingconnect for more information. More information can also be found on the attached flyer or by visiting www.LaCentralBronx.com. Download a flyer with rental details here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4zxe1ua127nh8en/ATTACHMENT%20F-2%20-%20La%20Central%20-%20Final%20approved%20Ad.pdf?dl=0

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.