A new $62 million affordable housing project from Alexander Gorlin Architects has been completed in the Bronx for developers Comunilife, a local nonprofit aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable communities through a combination of housing justice and culturally-sensitive supportive services. 

The firm’s El Borinquen Residence at 3401 Third Avenue features a total of 148 “deeply affordable” units, with 29 being reserved for seniors and an additional 90 set aside for those experiencing homelessness and youths who have recently aged out of the foster care system. It is a follow-up to their highly-praised Boston Road development two blocks north and was framed by Governor Kathy Hochul as the lynchpin for a larger five-year and $25 billion housing plan that is desperately needed as the city grapples with a protracted emergency corresponding to its high cost of living.

"With the completion of the El Borinquen Residence, more of our neighbors experiencing homelessness and mental illness will have a place they can call home," New York's Mayor Eric Adams said at the opening. "Our administration's Housing Our Neighbors blueprint finally treats homelessness as a housing problem and we're working to solve it with a housing solution, and supportive housing projects like El Borinquen are a critical part of making that solution reality."

New York was recently reported to have fallen short of its planned goals to construct 25,000 units of affordable housing by roughly 36% despite a record surge that saw construction spending increase to a total of $86 billion for the fiscal year across all five boroughs. The city’s homeless population currently stands at around 50,000, an issue that has been exacerbated by a failing shelter system and the high average costs of renting apartments, which likewise topped the $4,100 monthly figure for the first time earlier in the year.

"This building is a crown jewel for integrating the arts into supportive housing development. It is filled with joy, color, vitality, and inspiration," Comunilife CEO Dr. Rosa Gil said of the 90,000-square-foot new offerings. "These are all essential components for healing and people transforming their life. At Comunilife, we are thrilled to enter this new era of supportive housing design and development where quality of life is informed and impacted by the peace, inspiration and sensibility that art, beauty and culture can create. Cultural sensibility has been at the core of every initiative we have ever done, but a project of this massive scale, brings it to a whole new level."