Low-Income Residents Grateful To Find A Home At New Sugar Hill Complex In Harlem
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A new low-income apartment complex in Harlem combines public and private funding, innovative design and, according to its developers, a new level of respect for tenants.
The Sugar Hill development officially opened with a ribbon cutting Friday at 155th Street and Saint Nicholas Avenue, WCBS 880's Jane Tillman Irving reported.
Many tenants of the 13-story building echoed the sentiments of Helen Lugo, reveling in her family's new two-bedroom home.
"A lot of space and a good view," she described. "We are so thankful."
There were 48,000 applicants for the 124 apartments -- about one-fifth of them set aside for the formerly homeless.
Downstairs, there are eight classrooms for early-childhood education, and a children's museum of art and storytelling will open in the spring.
Last summer, David Adjaye, Sugar Hill's African-born, British-educated architect, told WCBS 880 he refused to cut any corners with the building.
"People just think, 'Oh, you should just do what we do for people of low income because that's good enough," he said. "And I think it's not good enough. I think, if I can design for a very wealthy client or for a big commercial project, I should do exactly the same for low income and a tight budget."
The building's top five floors are offset from the lower ones -- pushed over, it looks like -- to create a full-length terrace on one side and an overhang on the other.
Tenant Jason Bride said he didn't get it at first.
"Weirdest looking building," he said.
Then there's the gray precast concerete facade embossed with floral patterns.
"We couldn't understand why it couldn't be a black building," Bride said.
Some passersby say it looks like a prison. Others figure it's condos for rich people.
"I've never done a building yet that I haven't had that 'what's that?'" Adjaye said.
Inside are bright, white walls and light wood floors. The apartments feature many windows, flooding the units with light.
Adjaye's next project is the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall in Washington.
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