Revitalized Meeting Space Opens at Eastchester Gardens
On April 20, the Bronx’s Eastchester Gardens community opened a newly redesigned resident association office, where residents can further engage in planning the future of their homes.
The refurbished office space is an early preview of the more comprehensive improvements to come at Eastchester Gardens thanks to the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program, which allows NYCHA and its partners to unlock significant funding for repairs and provide enhanced property management and social services. Residents were joined by NYCHA representatives and the PACT partner team of MDG Design + Construction LLC, Infinite Horizons, and Wavecrest Management to celebrate the upgraded communal area with a grand opening ceremony at the development, where nearly 2,000 residents live.
A key feature of the office space is a new “design center,” where residents now have the opportunity to preview designs and renderings of the variety of finishes, materials, and fixtures that are envisioned for their apartments, as well as building corridors and lobbies, under PACT. The engagement process allows residents to actively participate in decision-making and have a say in how their homes will be revitalized for the future.
Resident Association (RA) Vice President Christal Brown, who said she was “very excited” when seeing the newly completed office, applauded the collaboration with the PACT partner team to bring residents’ vision to life.
“The partner team is fantastic,” she said. “They included everything we had asked for in our RA room. It makes us feel very excited and positive about going into this venture with them. I’m feeling more and more confident with what we’re going to get with PACT at Eastchester Gardens.”
“We are so excited for the residents at Eastchester Gardens to see this redesigned space,” NYCHA’s Executive Vice President for Real Estate Development Jonathan Gouveia said. “The design center will serve as an inspirational setting for residents as they continue to plan for upcoming investments with the PACT partner team. Congratulations to our residents and PACT partner team on this exciting step!”
The new design center at Eastchester Gardens gives residents the opportunity to preview designs of the variety of finishes, materials, and fixtures planned for their homes.
A representative of the PACT partner added: “Our focus in revitalizing Eastchester Gardens is on the residents and empowering them to actively shape the future of their homes. The transformation of the resident association office into this vibrant new design center is just one of many steps we are committed to as the Eastchester PACT partner to ensure that residents are fully engaged and integral to every part of the conversation and receive the high-quality transformations that they deserve.”
Comprehensive PACT improvements slated for Eastchester Gardens apartments include new kitchens and bathrooms, upgraded heating and cooling, LED light fixtures, painting, and new flooring, windows, and doors. Common areas such as lobbies, mail package areas, building entrances, and development grounds will be extensively renovated, while security enhancements, waste management systems, and free Wi-Fi will be installed. A workforce development initiative to train and hire Eastchester Gardens residents and a social services plan will also be implemented.
The redesign of the office space where the resident association and other groups meet and community events take place throughout the year is an important representation of what residents can expect when renovations start next year. The community space is complete with numerous new features, including flooring; electrical systems; walls, ceilings, and lighting; cabinets and countertops; kitchen fixtures including a stove, ovens, sink, refrigerator, and microwave; new furniture such as chairs, tables, and couches; and new doors. A new central cooling and heating system was also installed.
Resident leaders worked closely with NYCHA and the PACT partner over the past two years to identify investment priorities and weigh in on the specific community improvements. The collaborative process will continue as resident committees have begun to gather in the new RA office to contemplate design plans for rehabilitating apartments, and lay out visions for outdoor spaces, social services, and resident programming.
The PACT partner expects to begin development-wide improvements in early 2025, after the property transitions to Project-Based Section 8.
Featured photo caption: The newly enhanced resident association office at Eastchester Gardens features new furniture, kitchen fixtures, flooring, and lighting among other improvements. (courtesy of Linda Pedroso Photography)