ARCHITECTURE

Via Verde is a 171-unit mixed-use building in
The Bronx, New York, developed by for-profit Jonathan
Rose Companies and the not-for-profit Phipps Houses,
and designed by Dattner Associates and Grimshaw Architects.
Opened in 2012, the building comprises 151 rental
units for low-income tenants, and 71 cooperative units
for middle-income owners. As with New York by Gehry, a
ULI case study locates the project in the housing system,
as real estate. Via Verde began as a competition in 2006
sponsored jointly by the New York Department of Housing
Preservation and Development (HPD), the New York
City chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority,
and Enterprise Community Partners, an affordable
housing organization dedicated to supporting “publicprivate
partnerships with financial institutions, governments,
community organizations and other partners.” 61
Via Verde was the result of one such partnership. The
site in the south Bronx was owned by HPD, and the Rose/
Phipps/Grimshaw/Dattner team was announced as the
winning team in 2007. According to the Jonathan Rose
Companies, their mission was “to repair and strengthen
the fabric of cities, towns and villages, while preserving
the land around them.” 62 This, in support of “market-place
strategies [that] combine a disciplined investment approach
with innovative green solutions to produce superior,
risk-adjusted returns.” 63
Therefore, like all of our other examples, Via
Verde is capital. The development team acquired the site
from HPD for $1, as subsidy for the low-income units,
along with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and other
affordable housing financing from state and federal
agencies [See 1.1.2]. The market-rate co-ops were also
subsidized at the city and state level. Project costs were
about 10 percent higher than typical, with an estimated
3 percent accounting for the added “green features.” 64
Units vary in size and configuration, with rentals running
from 462 square-foot studio apartments to 1,089 squarefoot
three-bedroom units, and co-ops running from 664
square-foot one-bedroom units to 1,379 three-bedroom
units. Sales prices for the co-ops have ranged from $78,894
to $192,750, or, at the highest end, roughly 80 percent of
the median national home price in February 2012. 65 The
rental units were intended to “be affordable for households
earning 40 to 60 percent of the area median income
(AMI)” for a thirty year term, after which the owners are
permitted to “reposition” them in the market. 66 The median
household income for The Bronx from 2009–2013 was
$34,388. 67 Potential residents apply for admission and are
chosen by lottery; rents are established relative to actual
income. Via Verde has won at least a dozen awards for its
combination of above-average design, affordable housing,
“green living,” and—we must add—profit. The ULI case
study concludes that Via Verde “serves as a model for developments
around the country, demonstrating that design
innovation, urban revitalization, and healthy living
are attainable development goals for affordable housing,”
while conceding that “one criticism of the development is
how to replicate a project like Via Verde without the level
of [public] financial support it received.” 68 In other words,
even with a mission of social and environmental sustainability,
the laws of profit remain non-negotiable.
A Provisional Conclusion
These cases all show the means by which real
estate development governs both the economic life and
the imagination of housing in the United States. Though
by no means exhaustive, they demonstrate how something
as concrete as a house or apartment plan functions
as an investment: sometimes, by correlating a certain lifestyle
with a certain market; and sometimes, by helping
to shape a particular type of “household” as the primary
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