Wellness-focused development by Dattner Architects and SCAPE delivers 576 homes in East New York
Brooklyn, New York | March 2026
The first phase of Alafia, a large-scale wellness-focused affordable housing development in East New York, Brooklyn, has officially opened, marking a major milestone in one of New York City’s largest housing projects.
The 27-acre campus, designed by Dattner Architects in collaboration with landscape architects SCAPE, will ultimately deliver 2,400 affordable housing units across multiple phases.
The initial phase, completed at a cost of $387 million, spans nearly 390,000 square feet and includes 576 residential units across three buildings.
Architecture Designed Around Community Spaces
Awarded in 2018, the project’s first phase features a distinctive architectural configuration. Two taller buildings share a central lobby and form a C-shaped layout, while a shorter building closes the open side of the plan.
This arrangement creates an elevated courtyard terrace accessible to residents of all three buildings. The south-facing terrace maximizes sunlight and serves as a communal gathering space.
Landscape design by SCAPE incorporates planting schemes and outdoor furniture to encourage social interaction, relaxation and recreation. Many shared interior spaces—including laundry rooms and meeting areas—overlook the courtyard, enabling residents to remain connected to the outdoor environment.
Ground-floor maisonette units in the shorter building open directly onto what will eventually become Alafia’s central green space.
A Campus-Scale Design Strategy
According to project architects, the C-shaped configuration will repeat across the development’s six construction phases, forming a consistent framework for the broader campus.
The shorter interior buildings help define the edges of approximately six acres of open space, which will feature diverse landscapes ranging from dense planting zones to more open agricultural-style areas.
The buildings’ exterior facades feature a variable mix of brick, while courtyard-facing elevations use lighter cream-colored brick. Distinctive window patterns allow residents to easily identify their homes while reinforcing visual rhythms across the complex.
Infrastructure and Sustainable Design
The first phase also includes Alafia’s maintenance and waste management hub, composed of two translucent service buildings for trash, recycling and compost collection.
Future phases will incorporate compost produced onsite into nearby landscape areas, reinforcing the campus’s sustainability goals.
The development incorporates multiple climate-resilient strategies, reflecting its proximity to Jamaica Bay, a coastal area vulnerable to flooding. Buildings are elevated by nearly three feet to mitigate flood risk, while landscaping features native plant species designed to withstand coastal winds and salt exposure.
Additional environmental features include:
- Geothermal heating and cooling loops
- Wastewater heat recovery systems
- Rooftop solar installations
- Bioswale-lined streets to manage stormwater runoff
A newly built roadway, Vital Avenue, includes tree-pit bioswales that slow and filter stormwater before it enters the city’s drainage network.
The project also complies with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Strengthening Water Infrastructure for Tomorrow (SWIFT) initiative, with building runoff reused to irrigate courtyard landscaping.
Long-Term Community Vision
Beyond housing, the Alafia campus is planned as a mixed community hub. Future phases are expected to introduce additional residential buildings, expanded green spaces and community facilities, including a proposed school on a nearby parcel.
When fully completed, the development will deliver thousands of affordable homes while integrating wellness-oriented design, resilient infrastructure and significant public open space within Brooklyn’s rapidly evolving East New York neighborhood.
