Parking lot eyed for new senior affordable housing

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The senior care industry is eyeing a property in Riverdale for new development as the mayor is seeking passage of zoning measures aimed at encouraging affordable housing.

A report from LiveOn NY, a coalition of senior centers and other groups, cited the parking lot at 2973 Independence Ave., owned by Schervier Nursing Care Center, as one of 39 parking lots around the city that are “feasible for new senior housing development.”

A spokeswoman for Schervier said she was unaware of the report, called “Paving the Way for New Senior Housing,” and could not comment. Schervier’s CEO Carlos Beato declined an interview request.

LiveOn NY said a shortage of housing for seniors prompted it to look for underutilized parking lots at existing residences that have participated in a federal financing program known as HUD 202. “Paving the Way for New Senior Housing” cited a city government report that found car ownership was low among elderly people living at HUD 202 housing — five cars per 100 residents in areas near public transit, and 11 cars per 100 people at sites further away from transit.

The May report said building at the 2973 Independence Ave. parking lot, steps away from Schervier’s 14-story senior residence at 2995 Independence Ave., “may require a zoning change.”

Schervier Nursing Care Center, whose owner is seeking to sell the site to another organization, is on a lot zoned as R1 — which mostly restricts development to detached single-family homes. The parking lot discussed in LiveOn NY’s report appears to fall under the same zoning category.

Among other measures, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) text amendment would allow sites known as continuing care retirement communities to apply for exemptions to height and other restrictions without going through the usual review process.

Local critics have viewed that measure as designed to enable the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, located on an R1 lot, to build four mid-size towers.

Schervier Nursing Care Center, LiveOn NY, Carlos Beato, 2973 Independence Ave., affordable housing, ZQA, MIH, Shant Shahrigian
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