Fulton, Elliott, and Chelsea Houses: Re-Design for An Aging Population

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and resident leaders have the selected Essence Development and The Related Companies to provide approximately $366 million in comprehensive repairs and investments for 2,054 apartments in the Chelsea section of Manhattan through the PACT program (NYCHA’s Permanent Affordability Commitment Together Program, or PACT). NYCHA, the largest public housing authority in North America, was created in 1935 to provide decent, affordable housing for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. NYCHA is home to roughly 1 in 15 New Yorkers across over 177,000 apartments within 335 housing developments. NYCHA serves over 350,000 residents through the conventional public housing program (Section 9), over 20,000 residents at developments that have been converted to PACT/RAD, and over 75,000 families through federal rent subsidies (the Section 8 Leased Housing Program).

This selection marks a key milestone in a process that started in 2019 with the formation of a Chelsea NYCHA Working Group to study opportunities to modernize four developments. Leaders formed a Resident Review Committee to evaluate developer proposals and work with NYCHA in selecting the team best suited to achieve the Working Group’s recommendations. The plans are now in the ULURP review process.

A panel of speakers will discuss the design strategy for NYCHA’s Fulton-Elliot-Chelsea Houses redevelopment, the special considerations that benefit the older population, and how to integrate amenities for a diverse demographic into the urban context, considered the aging population that dominates public housing developments. The panel’s objective is to learn about the design, real estate development, and NYCHA’s perspectives, with a focus on the betterment of NYCHA, senior living, and urban environments in New York City.

Speakers:
Jamar Adams, Founder & Managing Principal, Essence Development
Jonathan Gouveia, Vice-president of Real Estate Development, NYCHA
Manish Chadha, AIA, Principal at ILA
Ruchika Modi, Principal at PAU

Moderator:
Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP, Green & Historic Preservation Specialist, President of Brian J. Pape Architect & Consultant PC; Co-Chair, AIANY Design for Aging Committee

About the Speakers:
Jamar Adams prior to founding Essence Development, Adams was the Vice President of New York Development at Related Companies. From the time he joined Related in 2012, Adams focused on the redevelopment and preservation of affordable multifamily housing across the United States including $800M+ in transactions and $1.5B+ in development. In New York City, Adams led the construction and rehabilitation of nearly 5,000 affordable and workforce housing units. Projects under his purview include Riverwalk Park, a new construction workforce housing building on Roosevelt Island; Marine Terrace, a multi-family housing project for Veterans in Astoria, Queens; Phase 1 of Willets Point, a mixed-use neighborhood in Queens; Rockaway South, an affordable supportive housing building in Far Rockaway; and more.

Before his time at Related, Adams played in the National Football League with the Seattle Seahawks and the Philadelphia Eagles. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and sits on the board of their Alumni Association and its LEAD Scholars. Adams is also a mentor to young professionals and is actively involved in organizations committed to enhancing educational and economic opportunities including 100 Black Men of America as well as the Business of Sport School in New York City. Currently, Jamar serves on the Advisory Council for the Fund for Public Housing.

Since 2019, Jonathan Gouveia, NYCHA’s Executive Vice President for Real Estate Development, has been leading the efforts to generate more than $16 billion in capital investment for the Authority’s portfolio—home to nearly 400,000 New Yorkers—while engaging residents, MWBEs, and community development organizations as partners in this vital work and improving operations, customer service, and property management for residents. To date, Gouveia and his team have completed 15 public-partnerships that will bring nearly $4.8 billion in comprehensive repairs and upgrades to about 19,000 apartments, and another nearly 20,000 apartments are currently in the pipeline to receive $8 billion in capital investment. He and his team have also completed “air rights” transfers that have so far generated $28 million for repairs of NYCHA buildings.

Before joining NYCHA, Gouveia served in various roles at the not-for-profit New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) for over a dozen years. Most recently, as Director for the Brooklyn-Queens Connector, he led the planning efforts for this transformative light rail system, which will bring major benefits to the area’s transportation and housing and job markets while promoting environmental resiliency. As Head of the Strategic Investments Group at EDC, he brought $5 billion in investment to the city and helped to retain or create 20,000 jobs.

Gouveia also worked in the Global Real Estate and Operations team of Bloomberg LP and for Brookfield Residential. He earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Toronto—and a professional certificate in real estate finance and development from MIT.

With a background spanning industrial design, economics, and journalism, PAU Principal Ruchika Modi brings a multifaceted understanding of how cities function to her architectural practice. Modi’s experiences living and working in Mumbai (then Bombay), New Delhi, and San Francisco have also influenced her nuanced view of urban planning and design, inspiring her passion for finding architectural solutions to a range of relevant issues, from sustainability to inequality. She sets the firm’s vision in partnership with Creative Director Vishaan Chakrabarti, including shaping the firm’s diverse portfolio of projects and overseeing all aspects of the design process. Modi led PAU’s design teams for the FAA’s new sustainable air traffic control tower prototype, which will be adapted to replace over 100 aging towers in airports nationwide; Princeton University’s newest residential college; as well as the Domino Sugar Refinery, an adaptive reuse project transforming the historic nineteenth-century factory into offices and retail.

Manish Chadha has over 27 years of experience in architecture and planning, working on a wide range of commercial, residential, and interior design projects. As an established top tier architect and design leader, he is principal in charge for several of the firm’s large development projects. Under his leadership, the firm continues to have a reputation for strong management skills and an ability to meet tight schedules and budgets.

Chadha has a great understanding of the principles and practices of architecture, including architectural details and standards along with applicable federal, state, and local codes, ordinances, and regulations. He has extensive experience with contract administration, project management, and budget development.

He received his bachelor’s degree from the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi and his Master of Architecture in Urban Design from the University of Colorado. Chadha is a licensed and registered architect in New York State and is LEED certified.

Brian J. Pape is appointed to the Waterfront Code Committee (2023-24) for the NYC Building Codes, and is a journalist specializing in architecture and urban subjects. He serves on the Manhattan District 2 Community Board Executive Committee, the Landmarks Committee, the State Liquor Authority Committee, and Street Activities & Resiliency Committee. Since graduating from the University of Illinois-CU Architecture program, Pape has developed energy-conscious, eco-friendly, passivehaus contemporary architecture suitable for the regions of Wisconsin, Missouri, Texas, Nova Scotia, Hawaii and New York, as well as adding life to historic buildings in many regions.