How Coliving Spaces Could Help With New York’s Housing Crisis

Developer Chris Cirillo has been trying to make anything out of 244 East 106th Street in East Harlem, New York.  

After the 27 by 100-foot space was upzoned by city planners in 2017, Cirillo suddenly had many more options for his hypothetical building. 

In 2019, the city asked developers to submit proposals for new coliving projects through a program called ShareNYC. Finally, Cirillo’s misfit space seemed to have a path forward. 

Now, his company Ascendant Neighborhood Development is one of three developers creating small coliving projects in an effort to help with New York’s housing crisis. 

The East Harlem development will turn into a 10 story, 33-unit space where the top eight floors will feature duplexes with shared living rooms.  

Along with working alongside the Ali Forney Center, a nonprofit that helps LGBTQ youth find places to live, the development will also host on-site offices.  

Meredith McNair, a community planner at Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, is part of ShareNYC’s second pilot project in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn that hopes to provide affordable living for residents.  

“The fact that you don’t have to provide a kitchen and bathroom for each unit saves a lot of money for construction costs,” said McNair. 

The nonprofit will revamp an old single room occupancy (SRO) on Lincoln Avenue, where it will gut the space and add new rooming units, a kitchen, and a shared living room.