Melrose Commons, aerial view La Terraza and surroundings.
Melrose Commons
Master Plan
Location: Bronx, NY
Size: 35-Block
Melrose Commons, which began as a pro bono community planning effort, spurred more than 25 years of urban revitalization work. During that time, MAP partnered with local organizations to replace empty lots and abandoned buildings with over 1,000 new affordable homes.
Awards
2012 Award of Excellence
Honorable Mention for Neighborhood, District and Corridor
2010 First Stage II LEED-ND
Silver Certification in New York State
2009 MASterwork Awards
Honorable Mention for Best Neighborhood Catalyst
2005 AIANYC Housing Awards Program
Design Award
1998 NYC Centennial Exhibition
Museum of the City of New York
1996 Civics Lessons
Recent New York Public Architecture
1994 ADPSR Project Award
Socially Responsible Work
A Model for Community-based Planning
By the late 1970’s, years of social and economic shifts and pressures, along with discriminatory public policies, left many urban areas around the country blighted. The disinvestment and depopulation that plagued these communities hit hard in the once thriving South Bronx. Fires consumed deteriorated buildings, and abandoned properties, and neighborhood revitalization efforts were faced with rubble strewn vacant lots and a few, if any resources.
Nos Quedamos members met to organize opposition to the city’s plan, 1992.
Although no formal presentation had been made, in 1992 residents of the Melrose neighborhood learned of New York City’s urban renewal plan for the area and knew that it would lead to displacement. At a public meeting that same year, community members vented their anger at the plan and demanded that any new development plans include them.
35-block urban renewal project in the Melrose neighborhood.
La Terraza building, view from the park.
A local organizing effort culminated in the formation of the Comité Nos Quedamos, in English, the We Stay Committee. Nos Quedamos surveyed residents, held public meetings and ultimately became the unified voice that articulated the community’s concerns, demanding the time and opportunity to formulate an alternative plan.
In response to the community’s action, the Bronx Borough President halted the approval process for the existing urban renewal plan to allow community input. The Departments of City Planning and Housing Preservation and Development agreed to abandon their existing plan and to sit down with them community on a weekly basis to work with them to develop a new plan reflecting the community’s concerns. Nos Quedamos requested that Magnusson Architecture and Planning (MAP) work with them in shaping the plan, providing technical overviews and negotiating with the City agencies.
Over the course of six months, with the help of MAP, the community was able to develop the Melrose Commons Urban Renewal plan, which was approved by the City in 1994.
For more than 25 years, has MAP partnered with local nonprofit organizations and developers to replace the empty lots and abandoned buildings in this neighborhood with over 1,000 new affordable homes. In 2010 Melrose Commons became the first project in New York State to achieve LEED for Neighborhood Development at the Stage II level.
Nos Quedamos set a precedent for neighborhood-based planning by getting the City to engage residents in a process that acknowledged their right to stay and help determine their community’s future.
La Casa de Felicidad and La Puerta de Vitalidad buildings.
La Terraza, an 8-story, 107-unit, mixed-use affordable rental building.
The Aurora, the first affordable coop in the Bronx in 50 years.
Melrose Commons, view of third avenue corridor. Left to right: La Casa de Felicidad, La Puerta de Vitalidad, The Aurora.
Nos Quedamos and their planning team developed 8 major goals that would inform the proposed plan for Melrose Commons.These principles are a model for community-based urban renewal.
Elton Crossing, street view.
The plan should cause no involuntary displacement of the existing community.
The plan should permit a mixed income community to develop and create a variety of ownership and rental housing.
The plan must provide affordable housing at densities appropriate to an urban community.
The plan should utilize architectural design guidelines that maximize the public investment by creating a visually desirable, urban environment that will encourage development.
The plan should promote physical development that is both environmentally conscious and sustainable.
The proposed open space should be distributed into a system that responds to the community’s concerns of program and security.
The Plan should respect the street pattern and movement patterns within the community.
The plan should provide for an appropriate distribution of commercial space and services and enable community residents and businesses to increase their earnings potential and expand their economic opportunities.