The Perennial: A Hospital Reborn as 145 Affordable Homes

Located at 70-35 113th Street in Forest Hills, this adaptive reuse + expansion delivers 145 homes in an 8-story residential community (approx. 50,000 SF of façade area). Homes serve households earning up to 50% AMI, including 124 senior units (with 44 reserved for formerly unhoused seniors) plus family units, alongside ~34,000 SF of community facility space.

Why It Matters — The project replaces nearly two decades of vacancy with long-term neighborhood infrastructure: housing, services, and a renewed community anchor—all achieved by extending the life of an existing structure instead of demolishing and starting over. This approach reduces construction waste and embodied carbon while accelerating delivery of affordable housing where it’s urgently needed.

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The building is enclosed with unitized prefabricated façade panels (DWALL 2000) and fiber cement cladding, supporting faster enclosure, tighter quality control, and fewer on-site variables on a constrained urban site. Thermal performance: R-20.8. The façade strategy was adapted to complex conditions—existing structure + vertical/horizontal additions—while maintaining durability and architectural consistency across “old + new.”

Delivery & Replicability — Beyond speed and safety benefits from off-site fabrication, The Perennial is a playbook for institutional-to-residential conversions in New York City—the kind of methodology that can scale across future reuse + affordable housing projects. Target completion has been reported for late 2027.

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