Council District Three has an extremely rare opportunity to rehabilitate and restore the vitality to one of our most cherished neighborhoods. As the inventory of upscale housing in the downtown vicinity continues to grow, the greater “Lincoln Avenue neighborhood” is in a most unique position to produce and accommodate diversified affordable housing within an area that has a compelling and observable need for socioeconomic revitalization. There are several independent housing development proposals that are concurrently being entertained, each of which is very important and has the potential to significantly contribute to this effort. Shiloh Baptist Church (SCDC) has been developing plans for a senior citizen housing facility located on Kress avenue; slightly northeast on Horton and Winthrop Avenues, the New Rochelle Municipal Housing Authority has plans to massively renovate the Hartley Housing complex. Adjacent to the Housing Authority, Bethesda Baptist Church (C.A.M.) is contemplating the construction of a high rise condominium at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Brook Street. Over the past year the city has discussed each of these projects with their respective organizations. Fully recognizing the potential to collaboratively remake a super block capable of addressing the private goals of each organization as well as the needs of the greater community, the city invited each of the aforementioned stakeholders to attend a summit in Spring 2007. The objective of the summit was to promote free thinking to bring to bear the collective wisdom of all stakeholders in an effort to explore the many opportunities and benefits of developing a more comprehensive neighborhood area plan.
