Old condo to offer ‘second chance’
IT SAT empty for half a decade, but this Mount Hope condominium will soon be home to victims of domestic violence.
The city Department of Housing Preservation and Development selected a nonprofit to take the reins at the long-vacant complex.
New Destiny Housing hopes to bring the former casualty of the real estate downturn back to life before year’s end.
The Manhattan-based organization took ownership of the building on Dec. 30, and plans to provide a safe space for domestic violence victims, who will occupy 19 of the 39 units in the 10-story, 40,366-square-foot complex.
The other units will go to low- and mod- erate-income families who will be selected through a lottery, New Destiny Housing officials said.
The project will get a boost of more than $14 million from an combination of city, state and federal tax credits, loans and Homeless Housing and Assistance Program and Affordable Housing Corp. dollars.
Officials say the project can give the victims the space they need to rebuild their lives.
“It is giving a second lease on life to victims of domestic violence,” said Dr. Bola Omotosho, chairman of Community Board 5. “They won’t have to be looking over their shoulder and worry some knucklehead is going to harm their family.”
Community residents are glad the Morris Ave. building would be put to good use, but they’re unsure that their potential new neighbors won’t be a magnet for trouble.
“I’m concerned someone dangerous could come here; it’s possible (the tenants) could be tracked down,” said Eloise Johnson, 69, who has lived across from the complex for 17 years. “But they’ve got to use that building, it’s been vacant for too long.”
Others were more receptive to giving those afflicted by domestic violence a fresh start.
“I’m glad these women are getting a new opportunity,” said Darlene Taylor, 29, another resident of Morris Ave. “It’s fine with me. Everyone deserves a second chance.”
New Destiny Housing officials said neighbors would be largely sympathetic to the victims and their plight.
“The Bronx and most residents are very much aware that domestic violence is very prevalent in the borough,” said Carol Corden, the executive director of New Destiny Housing.
The organization will begin marketing the condominium in February, Cordon said, and the first tenants may be moving in as soon as summer.
Domestic violence played a part in 68% of murders of women in New York City in 2012 and the highest incidences were pegged to Brooklyn and the Bronx, according to an annual report of the city Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee.
The Mount Hope Housing Corp. received a $1.5 million grant from the state Affordable Housing Corp. in 2008, and the $11 million building was completed a year later, but the housing bubble burst and the building sat vacant.