Renovations Begin On Long-Vacant Uptown City Housing Building

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Construction has begun on a project to renovate a dilapidated, formerly city-owned Washington Heights apartment building five years after community activists demanded the site be used for affordable housing, Upper Manhattan's community board announced.

The restoration project will result in the creation of 28 units of affordable housing at 2110 Amsterdam Ave., located between West 164th and 165th streets, Community Board 12 announced. The board passed a resolution calling for the renovations in 2014.

Community activist Martin Collins drew attention to the city's wasteful use of the building years ago, DNAinfo reported in 2016. Collins also led a renovation effort at city-owned 21 Arden Street.

"These boarded-up apartment buildings in our community are an embarrassment, Collins told DNAinfo in 2016. "At a time when everyone is talking affordable housing, here are 26 units that should be fixed."

Ownership of the building was transferred from the City of New York to the nonprofit Community League of the Heights in October, according to public real estate records. The nonprofit will be responsible for the renovation and for operating the building once construction is finished. The organization currently manages 36 Buildings with 557 units, according to its website.

The five-story Amsterdam Avenue building had been vacant for years before the Community Board's 2014 resolution, DNAinfo reported.

It's unclear when construction at 2110 Amsterdam Ave. is expected to be complete.