Inwood Project Set to Include 600 Homes — and a Marine Science Center

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) has announced that Slate Property Group, Xenolith Partners and Comunilife will be converting a vacant site in Inwood into more than 600 affordable units and a marine science center, according to a Thursday announcement from HPD.

The two-building development, which fronts Ninth Avenue between West 219th and West 220th streets near the Harlem River, will be known as La Ostra, and will host over 400 households of low-income New Yorkers and 200 households of older New Yorkers. La Ostra will take advantage of its proximity to the river by offering residents nearly an acre of waterfront public access and open space. 

Comunilife, a nonprofit developer and provider of supportive services, will provide on-site services to residents, and the project will also include space for the organization’s Life is Precious program, offering access to mental health resources for teens and their families. 

Accompanying the new housing will be a marine science and STEM education center operated by the Billion Oyster Project and BioBus that will take advantage of the site’s proximity to the Harlem River. 

“Anchored by a STEM partnership with the Billion Oyster Project, BioBus, and NPower, the development places marine science and STEM education at its core, equipping residents and the broader community with tools to engage with and restore the natural environment,” HPD said. The announcement also noted that proposed facilities for the project include “an outdoor classroom, a pavilion with a large seating area with movable furniture, a large central lawn and a stone amphitheater.”  

HPD’s acting commissioner, Ahmed Tigani, said in the announcement that “creative thinking” spurred the project. “By combining access to the waterfront, a hub for science and community education, and over 600 units of affordable housing, we are showing that we are focused on building not just units, but affordable homes and communities, equipped with world-class amenities, for hardworking New Yorkers.”  

Community residents will also have access to an indoor-outdoor soccer field called the Oyster Field House.

Slate Property Group is a veteran developer of non-luxury housing, including affordable. For instance, it is developing the 100 percent affordable housing building containing 450 units at 54-19 100th Street in Corona, Queens, that was part of New York Mets owner Steve Cohen’s casino complex proposal at Willets Point.

“Inwood deserves something extraordinary on this site, and our team has worked hard to deliver it,” David Schwartz, principal and co-founder of Slate Property Group, said in the announcement. “Together, we are building deeply affordable homes for hundreds of seniors and families, giving this community back its waterfront, and providing a fieldhouse for kids and the community to play the game they love year-round.”

La Ostra will also include sustainability and climate-resiliency features such as high building elevations, contoured landscaping engineered to reduce flooding, rooftop solar arrays, and batteries for power storage.  

Larry Getlen can be reached at lgetlen@commercialobserver.com.