Masonry Magazine January 2017 Page. 33
Before ground was broken in early 2015, the project faced a series of challenges. In addition to meeting the needs and wishes of various stakeholders, the developers wanted a building that would architecturally blend in with its surroundings while also providing a progressive design and environmentally-sound direction for the future. However, the apartments would go up in an area where most of the buildings surrounding it dated to the early part of the twentieth century. It was also important that this affordable housing project not look like other developments that were meant to meet the needs of low-income residents. Creston Avenue Residence needed have the look and feel of a lucrative New York City property.
Neighborhood History
The Fordham area in the western part of the Bronx saw its population boom in the 1920s and 1930s when middle class and working class families moved there in droves from Manhattan. In addition to cheap and convenient subway transportation, Fordham's new residents were drawn by what was then considered modern housing options, which included sturdy, utilitarian five-and six-story brick apartment buildings. For many New Yorkers, these structures became synonymous with the Bronx. By the 1970s many of those buildings were destroyed or in seriously poor condition following a wave of arsons and general neglect. The city began to rehabilitate many of the tenement-style apartment buildings and converted them into low-income housing. Those structures that couldn't be salvaged were torn down, which left a large number of empty lots.
Still, many of the buildings from that earlier era remain and comprise a significant portion of the community landscape. The Fordham area has retained much of its architectural character from an earlier era, and, in some ways, little has changed along Creston Avenue from 80 years ago. Magnusson Architecture and Planning (MAP) of New York City met their challenge by creating a truly modern design that filled in one of the empty lots while also paying homage to the character of the neighborhood. They did so by incorporating brick as a key element.