P.S. 186 has sat vacant for almost 40 yearssince 1975. (And yeah, its crumbling classrooms got pretty run-down.) The Boys and Girls Club of Harlem bought the building in the 80s, but redevelopment hasn't gotten off the ground... until today. With funding secured, the club, alongside Monadnock Development and Alembic Community Development, as well as the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, today announced the official, $48.6 million plan to convert the school into 78 apartments for "very low-, low-, and middle-income" families, plus a new boys and girls club facility. Datter Architects provided the first glimpses of what the conversion will look like in the form of renderings and floorplans. Construction kicked off after the announcement.
The school, which opened in 1903, is shaped like an H. Though the initial idea was to demolish the place and build anew, the current development team embraced adaptive reuse. From an official release:
They are taking great care to preserve the architectural features that lend the building its historical significance. Preservation activities include the replication of the original windows, the repair of the original cast and wrought iron staircases, the preservation of original ceiling heights (13' – 14'), the use of the original H-shaped corridor configuration with original assembly room and entry wall locations, and other measures. It is anticipated that P.S. 186 will soon be included on the National Register of Historic Places. Across five stories, there will be 100,533 square feet of residential space, broken down as follows: 19 studios, 47 one-bedrooms, and 12 two-bedrooms. The Boys and Girls Club of Harlem will get 11,302 square feet. Here are the income ranges for the planned apartments, which will be mostly affordable but also include eight market-rate units:
Of the total 78 units, ten (10) units will be affordable to households earning no more than 40 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI), or an annual income of no more than $23,500 for an individual and $33,550 for a family of four. Five (5) units will be affordable to households earning up to 50 percent of AMI, or no more than $29,400 annually for an individual and $41,950 annually for a family of four. Forty-eight (48) units will be affordable to households earning up to 60 percent AMI, or no more than $35,280 annually for an individual and $50,340 annually for a family of four. In an effort to fulfill the de Blasio Administration's call for affordable housing for all New Yorkers, units in this development will also be affordable to middle-income and market-rate households. Seven (7) units will be affordable to families earning up to 130 percent AMI, or no more than $76,440 annually for an individual and $109,070 annually for a family of four. This development will include eight (8) market-rate units. Construction is expected to be complete in the summer of 2016. First step: get those trees growing out of the windows outta there.
· Abandoned Harlem School Secures Funding for Redevelopment [Curbed]
· Abandoned Harlem School Finally Getting Converted [Curbed]
· The Crumbling Classrooms of Harlem's Abandoned P.S. 186 [Curbed]
· All P.S. 186 coverage [Curbed]
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