On September 16th, CFH’s Board of Directors and staff toured our new Blondell Avenue facility ahead of its opening later this year. President & CEO George Nashak shared his thoughts:

How did the idea for the Blondell site come to be? 

Most shelters in New York City are what we call “adaptive re-use” buildings.  A provider like Care For the Homeless renovates a building that had been built for another purpose: a school, a hotel, a factory, etc., creating the shelter within the constraints of the existing building footprint and design.  The attraction of a “purpose-built shelter,” that is, a facility constructed from the ground up to CFH’s specifications, is that we were able to design it in a way that maximizes the dignity and respect we want to show to each of our residents.   

What does this mean?  Imagine being a person who has experienced the trauma of becoming homeless and then having the opportunity to live in a building that is bright and hopeful.  This has been our overriding goal. Every common space, every dormitory, and all of the dining and recreation areas are bathed in natural light.    The ceilings are high and the hallways are wide: the opposite of an oppressive environment!  In addition, we have lots of peaceful outdoor space so that our residents can relax and experience nature right where they live.  Not many New Yorkers have a backyard and a beautiful roof deck, but the residents of Blondell Avenue will enjoy these amenities. 

Why did CFH choose this particular location? 

Our goal was to find a site that would allow us to create a purpose-built shelter, that is, to do ground-up construction on a development site.  Sites like this are not easy to find in the five boroughs.  We needed to find a location that we could afford, that was available for sale, that was suitable for our desired purpose, and that had good access to public transportation for our staff and residents.  Blondell Avenue met these criteria.   

CFH worked with a skilled and experienced NYC-based real estate developer, Foremost Real Estate, as our partner.  Foremost and CFH chose a best-in-class architect, Andrew Knox from ESKW/Architects, to design the building.  And we received expert real estate development support from Katie Devine and the team from Rockabill.  And, of course, we worked side-by-side with the NYC Department of Homeless Services throughout the entire process.  Their support was critical in getting this project launched and completed. 

As you can see, it really took a village to create this project!  Working with such excellent partners has been a pleasure and I think the building reflects all of the good thinking and commitment to our residents and staff that were the goals of the project from the beginning. 

How is Blondell similar or different to other CFH sites, such as the recently opened Liberty Avenue? 

CFH will own Blondell Avenue when the project is complete and the permanent financing closes.  The 30-year mortgage for the property will be paid through the DHS contract.  So this is an excellent example of the power of the provider-owned shelter development model.  By contrast, CFH is renting Liberty Avenue from a private landlord.  This is a common and very effective model for developing shelters in NYC and we have an excellent relationship with our landlords at Liberty.  But a piece of land and a building that we own contributes to CFH’s long-term sustainability and will help to build our assets. 

When will the site open? 

Construction completion in NYC is notoriously hard to predict, but at this moment it looks like we will receive our operating certificate from NYS and accept our first residents by mid-November.