Casa Celina is a 16-story affordable senior housing development located at Sotomayor Houses in the Bronx. The project is a joint venture development by Xenolith Partners, The Kretchmer Companies, ELH Mgmt. and JASA. The site was awarded to the team through NYCHA’s NextGeneration Seniors First RFP for an under-utilized parking lot located on the Sotomayor Houses campus in the Soundview section of the Bronx. The development is named for Celia Baez, mother of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor who grew up at this NYCHA complex.

The development includes 205 apartments for low-income seniors with 30% of the units reserved for formerly homeless individuals. Approximately 1,700 square feet of double-height, fully-glazed ground floor community space will house the JASA East Bronx Case Management Program. There, JASA will provide social support service and senior health and wellness programming on-site with funding from the NYC Department for the Aging (DFTA). These services will be accessible to Casa Celina and NYCHA residents and to the surrounding community. Amenities for residents include a 16th Floor fitness room, laundry facilities, AIRS lounges on every floor, a second-floor multipurpose amenity room, and a landscaped rooftop terrace.

Casa Celina is designed for maximum sustainability and resiliency. Its an all-electric building that incorporates Cold Climate Heat Pumps for heating and cooling and heat pump water heaters for electrically sourced domestic hot water. The façade is constructed using an innovative pre-fabricated panel manufactured in southern New Jersey under strict quality control condition. The north/south orientation of the site and building provides an opportunity for energy generation with a large solar array. The angled recesses of the windows and articulated facade will shade the east/west facing units and mitigate heat gain. Total Development Cost is $113MM with an expected completion date of October 2023.