459 West 147th Street

West 147th Street

West 147th Street

Building

459 West 147th Street

Date Opened

November 9, 2006

Residential Units

8 independent studio apartments for persons meeting a range of income guidelines

Development Partners

Architect: Alfred Karman, Architect
General Contractor: MDG Design and Construction Corp.
Major Funders: NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development

Rental Subsidy

Section 8 Vouchers

More Info

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Building History

The Small Buildings Portfolio gathers small (less than 21 units) buildings together. These buildings share a management team and social services. WSFSSH participated as a non-profit provider in the “Third Party Transfer Program” which worked to redeem buildings that were part of the scandal of HUD’s 203(k) Loan program in New York City. Gut renovation of the Revella, on 116th Street, near Frederick Douglass Boulevard, was part of WSFSSH’s participation. The Revella reopened September 9, 2004 after gut renovation, with 19 studio apartments for formerly homeless older persons and pre-existing tenants. Many of the former tenants chose to stay in the housing WSFSSH had helped them acquire during the renovation, but several tenants returned to the refurbished building. WSFSSH also renovated another partially occupied building as part of this program. This building on 147th Street near Convent Avenue was renovated into eight studio units for persons who meet a range of income guidelines; it re-opened on November 9, 2006. Five other buildings on three different blocks in West Harlem were all vacant at the time of acquisition by WSFSSH. These small buildings form the West 120’s Cluster. These five brownstones were part of 203(k) crisis and were renovated into a total of 37 studio apartments for persons who meet a range of income and eligibility requirements. The active participation of the West 126th Street Block Association was crucial to the success of this project, and we continue to value their community involvement. These buildings opened in September, 2008. The West 80s: Two buildings, which were part of NYC Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), have been renovated by WSFSSH on the Upper West Side. WSFSSH helped existing tenants relocate to safe permanent housing while gut renovations took place. A number of tenants opted to return to the renovated buildings. The building on West 84th Street has 20 units (studios, one- and two- bedroom apartments) and the building on West 87th Street has eight studio apartments providing permanent housing as well as nine transitional SRO units. The transitional units are home for the Dorot Homelessness Prevention Program. These buildings in the West 80s re-opened on January 18, 2010.