A Queens substance use treatment provider won a $500 million contract with the city on Tuesday to provide homeless shelter services at its new housing project in Highbridge, city filings show.
Samaritan Daytop Village, based in Briarwood, secured a 30-year contract with the Department of Homeless Services that will cover shelter services and debt financing for a new homeless shelter it’s developing in the Bronx. The nonprofit is planning to build the 106-bed family shelter at 1389 University Ave., next door to a permanent housing residence and community center that are also in the works. The entire development will encompass 400,000 square feet, city plans show.
The recent contract will fund supportive services at the homeless shelter, such as job training, health care navigation and individual and group counseling. Shelter staff will also connect residents in need of behavioral health care with Samaritan Daytop Village’s mental health and substance use treatment programs, as well as local medical facilities like the Damien Family Care Clinic.
The contract will also fund debt financing for the construction of the new facility, said Jerry Mascuch, vice president of real estate at the nonprofit. The development is being constructed under a new city model that allows nonprofits to own the buildings where they operate services as opposed to leasing from a private developer – a model that Mascuch says saves the city and the provider money.
Samaritan Daytop Village has owned the Highbridge property since the 1980s, and it has since functioned as a residential treatment center for people with substance use disorders, Mascuch said.
Over the next three years, the nonprofit plans to construct a 315-unit permanent and affordable housing development at the property adjacent to the homeless shelter. Of those units, 190 will be affordable to people with incomes under 50% of the affordable median income level and the remaining apartments will be affordable with incomes under 80% of the area median income.
Samaritan Daytop Village is also planning to build a 5,000 square-foot community center onsite, which will house either health care services or a child care facility, Mascuch said.
Mascuch said that construction of the new development is set to begin this summer. The organization hopes to complete the project by 2027.
Amanda D'Ambrosio , 2024-05-17 11:33:05
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