37 Hillside Avenue

A graphic poster featuring a stylized colorful tower or building with a red background, a black banner at the bottom displaying white text that reads 'AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE AWARD 2024,' and decorative elements resembling leaves or branches around the right side.

The American Architecture Award (Winner 2025)

Orange lightbulb graphic with white and black text that reads "Best of Year 2024 Winner".

Interior Design Building of the Year (2023)

Black award badge with white text, reading 'Architizer A+ Awards Finalist 2025'.

Architizer A+Awards Finalist (Affordable Housing 2025)

Archtober | Center for Architecture (Building of the Day 2023)

HPD Commissioner's Commendation — cited as a model for affordable housing excellence

Project Overview

37 Hillside Avenue, Inwood, Manhattan · $115M · 164 units · 100% Affordable Senior Housing · Completed 2023 · Architect: Architecture in Formation · Architect of Record: SLCE Architects · Nonprofit Partner: RiseBoro Community Partnership

37 Hillside is a $115 million, 164-unit Passive House, all-electric affordable senior housing development in Inwood, Manhattan — completed in 2023 in partnership with RiseBoro Community Partnership. One of only two NYC affordable housing projects to close financing in Q3/Q4 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The building delivers 164 homes for low-income seniors, supportive services for formerly homeless residents, and an array of resident amenities including a communal kitchen workshop, library, meeting rooms, and outdoor gathering spaces. At street level, it provides a permanent new home for Rocky Mount Baptist Church — pioneering a faith-based development model that is increasingly replicable across New York City.

The Origin Story

At least two prior development teams had tried and failed to build on this site.  The site's challenges were real: a steep slope, uneven rocky subsurface conditions, and zoning requirements that made conventional development financially unviable. What those prior teams missed — and what made this project possible — was a careful reading of the Zoning for Quality and Affordability text.  We recognized that the ZQA parking waiver, combined with the floor area bonuses available for 100% affordable senior housing with a significant community facility component, transformed the site's viability entirely. The prohibitive parking requirement could be waived automatically. The floor area could be maximized. And the programmatic compatibility between senior affordable housing and a church replacement — rarely understood as a development tool — gave us a community partner whose site contribution was essential to making the project work.  The result: a site that had defeated two prior teams became one of the most distinctive affordable housing projects in New York City.

The Design

Architecture in Formation designed 37 Hillside as a building that earns its place in the neighborhood — combining Passive House performance with design ambition rarely seen in affordable housing at this scale.  The building is all-electric, one of the first affordable senior housing projects of its scale to achieve this standard. The Passive House envelope substantially reduces energy costs for residents and long-term capital risk for the nonprofit owner. Extensive outdoor space — including a landscaped courtyard with views of the neighboring hillside — provides residents with an oasis half a block from Broadway and multiple transit connections.  This is a building designed to make residents feel grounded in their community.

Faith-Based Partnership

Rocky Mount Baptist Church's new facility is the partnership that made the project possible.  The church received a new 7,800 sf turn-key facility at street level — more than double the size of its prior building — plus $2.7 million in capital to support its ongoing mission. The sanctuary and Cooper’s Hall were designed collaboratively with the church and its stakeholders, and allow the congregation to serve a significantly larger share of its community.  This model — transforming underbuilt faith-based sites into affordable housing while creating a new, permanent home for the congregation — is now recognized as a replicable template for NYC affordable housing development. 37 Hillside was among the first projects to demonstrate it at scale.

Design & Construction Team

Design Architect: Architecture in Formation 

Architect of Record: SLCE Architects

Structural Engineer: DeSimone 

MEP Engineer: Morozov 

General Contractor: Mega Contracting

Key Facts

  • Location: 37 Hillside Avenue, Inwood, Manhattan 

  • Units: 164 (100% affordable senior housing) 

  • Total Development Cost: $115 million 

  • Size: 120,000 sf 

  • Status: Completed 2023 

  • Nonprofit Partner: RiseBoro Community Partnership 

  • Energy: Passive House, all-electric 

  • Financing: LIHTC equity, bond financing, NYC subsidy, conventional debt — closed Q3/Q4 2020