THE BRONX, N.Y., Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Omni New York LLC (Omni) celebrated the opening of its Morris Avenue Apartments affordable housing complex located at 655 Morris Avenue in the Bronx, which will provide 176 new units of mixed income housing for New York families and formerly homeless, including formerly homeless veterans.
Eighty-seven percent of the units are reserved for tenants with incomes at or below 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI), with 35 of these units set aside for formerly homeless tenants, including 17 units reserved specifically for homeless veterans, most of whom already occupy their new apartments. The remaining 13 percent of the units are reserved for tenants restricted to 80 percent of AMI.
“We at Omni are excited to open our first new construction building in New York City,” said Eugene Schneur, Managing Director and co-founder of Omni. “Built to meet some of the highest eco-friendly standards in the industry, we are very proud to offer these new, quality affordable housing options for New Yorkers, including formerly homeless veterans. I would like to thank HPD, HDC and Bank of America for helping make the Morris Avenue Apartments a reality.”
Omni has already moved 16 formerly homeless veterans into their brand new units and a local non-profit will provide an array of supportive services to all formerly homeless tenants living in the building.
Constructed in partnership with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and Bank of America, Morris Avenue Apartments include numerous sustainable and energy-efficient features.
Approved for LEED Silver Certification prior to construction, the building is on pace to achieve LEED Gold Certification as well as Enterprise Green Communities Certification. Rooftop solar panels will offset a portion of the property’s electricity usage. A clean microturbine cogeneration unit will allow the building to produce enough electricity to power the common areas, retail space and community facility, while satisfying domestic hot water requirements and acting as a backup emergency generator. Other sustainable and energy efficient building elements included bamboo flooring, Energy Star rated appliances and water saving fixtures. The building has designated areas for recycling and an interior bicycle room for the tenants and employees of the commercial areas.
The 15-story building includes 9,500 square feet of ground floor retail, 8,500 square feet of community facility space and a two-level parking structure with 75 parking spaces. An extensive DVR-security camera system with approximately 175 cameras, including a state of the art facial recognition system at the front entrance, will provide safety for tenants and the public.
