105 Affordable Housing Units Proposed For Former Harlem Prison Site

HARLEM, NY - A shuttered correctional facility in Harlem is slated to be redeveloped for over 100 units of affordable housing, state officials said.

Dubbed Seneca, the redevelopment project would see more than 105 affordable homeownership units built on the 10,000-square-foot grounds of the former Lincoln Correctional Facility at 31-33 West 110th St., Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a Tuesday statement. The proposed $90 million investment into Harlem would also provide community spaces and implement local hiring goals.

“As part of my commitment to increasing New York’s housing supply, my administration is continuing to follow the recommendations of the Prison Redevelopment Commission and reimagine what’s possible at underutilized jails and prisons,” Hochul said. “Soon, this project will unlock tools to help us address the housing crisis, create jobs, and improve New Yorkers’ quality of life, and I look forward to working with the development team to bring it to fruition.”

Sponsored by Empire State Development, the proposed project will now have to undergo an environmental review before being presented for public review and comment.

Earlier this year, Hochul announced similar plans to revamp the 100,000-square-foot former Bayview Correctional Facility in Chelsea with affordable, transitional and supportive housing. The two projects are part of a larger Hochul administration initiative to bolster the state's dwindling housing stock. Read more: State Eyes Former Chelsea Prison For Affordable, Transitional Housing

The affordable units at Seneca will be made available to households earning 80 percent and 100 percent of area median income (AMI) and require only a five percent down payment to purchase, "offering an invaluable opportunity to build wealth through property ownership," the governor's office said. You can check your household AMI here.

The Seneca project will draw on some of Hochul’s other housing initiatives, such as Pro-Housing Communities Program and Executive Order 30, the governor's office said. A 65 percent Minority-Owned Business Enterprise partnership is also set to facilitate the proposed affordable homeownership and community-centric spaces.

First opened in 1914 as a branch of the Young Women's Hebrew Association, the site housed Jewish immigrant women in the early 20th century before being sold to an experimental school in 1917 operating under Columbia University's Teachers College, according to a 2002 report from The Morning News. The development served as a school in various capacities before the state bought it in 1976 to be used for prisoners with less than two years until parole and, later, as a work-release center.

The 408-person capacity facility mostly housed those serving drug-related sentences, the outlet reported in 2002.

The facility, which closed in 2019, was most recently used earlier this year as a temporary shelter for asylum seekers.