Research from Fall 2020

We began our capstone project by brainstorming ideas and breaking down the three pillars of sustainability. Our thought process also involved laying out a plan for how we would achieve our sustainable conversion proposal in two phases, as illustrated below:

To date, we have explored issues relating to low income housing and financing and the obstacles we need to overcome to make a project such as this come to life. By further analyzing the building code, zoning, and how to make zoning changes, we are aware of the steps that need to be taken to make this project a reality. By also looking into the EnerPHit Passive House Retrofit design standards, we understand the requirements that this project would need in order to meet those targets. We have identified specific issues relating to COVID-19, such as lack of information from large businesses regarding their office space use or availability and the potential inability to visit our site or interact face-to-face with key industry contacts. With the information we have, we are analyzing and interpreting our findings to develop a proposal in light of these obstacles.

To determine how our project would fit into the landscape of affordable housing in New York City, we researched the various affordable housing programs currently offered in New York City to better understand how the affordable housing issue is currently being addressed. The housing crisis is one of the City’s top agenda items, so research also included the analysis of recent housing plans published by the City to learn what the future goals and targets are in the coming years. Additionally, because this project centers around the conversion of a building that would require extensive remodeling and retrofitting, we are aware that this comes with a large financial cost. We have looked into different funding opportunities with the goal to leverage multiple financing options, including subsidies and tax incentives. Through our research, we learned that there are plenty of resources and programs available. Many target affordable housing developments, such as the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and climate bond certified Affordable Housing Revenue Bonds offered by the New York State Housing Financing Agency (HFA). Given the considerable variety and number of financing programs out there that our project would likely qualify for, we hope to consult with someone familiar with financing similar projects.

When looking for a building, our main criteria included: making sure the property type is able to be rezoned as a special purpose district to allow for residential development and a communal office space for residents; full building availability with garage access to allow e-bike storage and EV charging; existing ground floor previously used as a restaurant, cafe, or deli to be transformed into a grocery store; and roof access to develop a community garden to grow herbs and produce to be sold in the ground floor grocery store. Our initial focus was to find a building with full availability, but we expanded our search to include buildings that may only have partial availability but that meet nearly all other criteria. Because this is a conceptual project, the goal is to develop a plan that could be used as a case study or guideline for the conversion of a vacant office building in the future. Companies have been constantly updating their work-from-home policies, so in the coming months or years, the office space landscape could be drastically different with the potential for more conversion to residential buildings.

The final site we selected is in Midtown on West 36th Street. It meets most of our criteria, with a large portion of the building unoccupied and available for lease or purchase, an existing ground floor restaurant, roof access, and the ability to be re-zoned.

We reached out to the real estate team involved in the sale of the building units and are looking to hopefully visit in person in the coming months. We have also looked into how builders, architects, and designers are building with COVID-19 in mind. Additionally, because of the dense nature of New York City and Midtown specifically, we need to make sure that the air coming into each unit is clean and filtered, and that exhaust air is completely removed from the building. Therefore, we performed background research on the types of air filters and their efficacy. We are looking into installing MERV-13 filters, as this is the option that is the most cost effective while still being a great choice for ventilation purposes.

We developed a preliminary building layout that incorporates all elements of our proposal: residential units, a community space, daycare center, office space, and a grocery store. A basic residential floor plan was also created to get an idea of how the units could be laid out and how many units the building can potentially accommodate.

Following our mid-year presentation and review, we will take into account any feedback or suggestions for this layout and any other aspects of our project proposal.