359 affordable apartments open at The Peninsula, the former Spofford juvenile jail site in Hunts Point

For more than 50 years, the Spofford Juvenile Detention Center, a city jail for young people awaiting trial, stood in Hunts Point. Now 359 affordable apartments stand on part of the site. The second phase of The Peninsula held its ribbon cutting Thursday, Nov. 12, the Bronx Times and News 12 reported.

What opened

• Where: Buildings 2A and 2B at 1221 and 1225 Spofford Ave., Hunts Point, the Bronx.
• Apartments: 359 in all: 305 affordable units and 54 set aside for formerly homeless households (about 15%), from studios to four-bedrooms, according to the developers' announcement.
• Income: 73% of the apartments are for households earning at or below 60% of area median income, News 12 and the developers said.
• Cost: $297 million for this phase.
• Extras: an early childhood center, about 21,800 square feet of community space, a public pedestrian plaza (the Bronx Times says 43,591 square feet; the developers say about 45,000 gross square feet), fitness rooms, laundry, lounges with terraces and bike storage.

The project was developed by Gilbane Development, The Hudson Companies and Mutual Housing Association of New York (MHANY), and designed by WXY and Body Lawson Associates. The Point CDC, a longtime Hunts Point group, took part in planning.

A city-run grocery store is next

The ground floor has a 15,000-square-foot space for the city's first municipal grocery store, NYC Groceries, expected to open in 2027. The Bronx Times put the target at Thanksgiving 2027.

The full plan

The first phase opened in 2022 with 183 affordable apartments. A third and final phase, expected to close by December 2027, would bring the project to about 740 affordable homes, along with a light-industrial manufacturing building, according to the Bronx Times and the developers.

The city closed Spofford in 2011 after years of reports of abuse and violence. Assembly Member Amanda Septimo, who grew up in Hunts Point, told the Bronx Times that the jail shaped how children in the neighborhood saw themselves. "This is more than just a ribbon cutting," said former Council Member Rafael Salamanca Jr., who said he put $13 million in capital funding into the three phases.

Can I apply?

New affordable apartments in projects like this are usually leased through NYC Housing Connect lotteries. The coverage of the opening did not say whether any units are still open for applications. See our guide to applying for Housing Connect lotteries and the current open lotteries.