A Bronx Church Will Be Rebuilt Under 167 Affordable Apartments for Seniors, Including Formerly Homeless Elders

• Casa de la Fe church at 1810 Randall Avenue, Soundview, will be redeveloped
• An eight-storey building will hold about 167 affordable studios and one-bedroom flats for seniors
• Homes are aimed at seniors earning up to 50% of area median income, including the formerly homeless
• The church will be rebuilt on the ground floor

A church in Soundview, the Bronx, is set to make way for a building that will house both its congregation and around 167 older New Yorkers. The Bronx Times reported in March 2023 that Casa de la Fe is working with Vertical Community Development Group on an eight-storey development at 1810 Randall Avenue.

The building will contain about 167 affordable studio and one-bedroom apartments for seniors with incomes from zero to 50 per cent of the area median income, including seniors who have been homeless. Casa de la Fe will be rebuilt on the ground floor, keeping the congregation on its own site.

The project had just received $1.5 million from Councilmember Amanda Farías, with further financing expected from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development and from low-income housing tax credits. HPD financing was expected in 2024, with construction taking about two years after that. Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson had given the plan a positive recommendation.

Farías linked the project to her own upbringing, saying she grew up in an intergenerational home, and added: “We all have a responsibility to help one another through this major housing crisis.” Leon Hovsepian, vice-president of Vertical Community Development, said the company was “thrilled to be working with Casa de la Fe Church to bring 167 new affordable homes” to the area.

The model is a familiar one in New York: a congregation with a valuable lot but limited funds partners with a housing developer, gains a new worship space, and helps meet one of the city’s most pressing needs. Seniors on fixed incomes are among the hardest hit by rising rents, and deeply affordable units are rare.

The Bronx has a large Caribbean population, including many Jamaican families, and older relatives often struggle most with New York housing costs. For churches in Jamaica as well as in the diaspora, the Soundview plan shows how a small congregation can keep its place of worship while using its land to house elders who might otherwise have nowhere secure to live.

Follow Jamaica Homes on Youtube @jamaicahomes and Instagram @jamaica_homes and on Facebook @jamaicahomesnews Send us a message or email us at onlinefeedback@jamaica-homes.com or editor@jamaica-homes.com