Illegal Upper West Side hotel at 235 West 107th Street to become supportive housing

An illegal transient hotel on the Upper West Side will be transformed into permanent supportive housing, through an arrangement announced last month by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Rockabill Development and Goddard Riverside are behind the proposed project at 235 West 107th Street, which just secured $38 million in financing through HPD's Supportive Housing Loan Program. Formerly known as The Morningside Inn, the property was illegally converted from single-room occupancy housing into a hotel in 2012, prior to its sale to the development team in 2021.

Completed in 1912, the six-story building features 84 residential units will be reconfigured so that each has a private bathroom - currently, half of the units only have access to shared restrooms. As a result, there will be less space for housing, cutting the total number of apartments to 68 units, plus one superintendent's unit.

Each floor of the six-story building will be outfitted with two communal kitchens and dining areas which will each be shared by between six and seven tenants. In addition, the first floor and cellar will be renovated to create a community room and dedicated space for crucial case management and social services, which will be managed by Goddard Riverside. Passage to and from the building’s east and north courtyards will be improved so residents can fully enjoy these outside areas, and the entire property will be made ADA compliant.

Other elements of the project include retrofitting each of the six floors to include two communal kitchens and dining areas, which will be shared by six to seven tenants each. Likewise, the first floor and cellar will be renovated to include a community room and offices for social services. At the exterior, plans call for renovations to existing courtyards, as well as ADA compliant changes.

The project will also include repairs to the facade, new flooring, and other upgrades to building systems to improve energy efficiency.

ConRock Construction is serving as general contractor for the project, which begins work this month.

The apartments, at completion, will include 54 units of permanent supportive housing through New York City's 15/15 Supportive Housing Initiative and six units available for auction via the city's housing lottery at 60 percent of the area median income. The remaining eight units will be set aside for long-term residents of the property.

• Upper West Side (Urbanize NYC)