Livonia Commons

Located in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, Livonia Commons seeks to revitalize the Livonia Avenue corridor with a dynamic mix of new affordable housing, retail stores, and community spaces. The building is comprised of 278 affordable housing units spanning four buildings and 277,000 square feet. The building serves families with a range of incomes, with more than half of the units dedicated for households earning less than 40 percent and 50 percent of area median income. Integrated into the project are 51 units of supportive housing with additional on-site support services.

In addition to meeting the needs of affordable housing in the neighborhood, Livonia Commons features 28,000 square feet of new retail stores and community space along with a new community arts center operated by Arts East New York.

The four buildings feature a traditional concrete block and precast concrete plank superstructure sitting on a steel frame pedestal base. The playful choice of color and interlocking shapes of brick and metal panel cladding enhance the vibrancy along the elevated subway corridor. The gradual step-down of the building’s mass from the corner and away from the elevated subway tracks begins to break down the scale of the buildings and relate to the existing scale of the side streets.

All four buildings feature micro-generation and high-performance building systems, fixtures, and energy-efficient appliances.

AWARD:

2017 Building Brooklyn Award for affordable residential development