The Creation of a Business Plan Based on New York City Green Roof Models in Sugar Hill, Harlem

Broadway Housing Communities (BHC) is a non-profit affordable housing developer in Manhattan. Currently, BHC is constructing a new housing community in the Sugar Hill-section of Harlem, which will not only provide needed affordable housing, but will also house various cultural arts and educational programs benefitting the community; the Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling is one such example. BHC is seeking to transform the roof space of this new facility into a community farm that they operate in tandem with other programming in Sugar Hill. The Capstone’s final business plan provides BHC a menu of farming techniques and programming options that will produce a sustainable farm.

The Capstone team gathered information regarding the operation of programs at BHC. Through research and outreach to restaurants, urban agriculture advocates, businesses and NGOs, the team has developed business, educational and community models that can provide BHC a good fit for the Sugar Hill rooftop. The menu provides BHC with models of urban agricultural cultivation accompanied by details on construction, operation, and fiscal management logistics for them to consider the best model given their current needs.

The Capstone team believes that BHC can bring together residents and local community members to create a sustainable rooftop farm. The plan proposes that BHC integrates educational programming with their on-site daycare center, health and nutrition programming for residents and utilize the transformed roof space for development and sugar hill community outreach events. The analysis prioritizes these measures and has resulted in development of a plan that provides sustainable financial and operational options for a mission driven non-profit organization like BHC, with many responsibilities serving the future residents and constituencies of the Sugar Hill development.

Press Release:

Architectural Record http://archrecord.construction.com/news/2013/02/130214-A-Role-Model-for-New-York-Citys-Affordable-Housing.asp