A 340-unit affordable housing development is in the works to be built on a site that once housed a Catholic church and school.  

The property, located at 160 Van Cortlandt Park South in Kingsbridge, used to be home to the Church of the Visitation, its rectory and its parochial school.  

Neighbors have expressed concerns that the housing development will affect their quality of life, citing excess noise from construction, increased traffic, lack of parking and other residential concerns.  

“Definitely rugged terrain, hopefully it gets fixed up,” said resident Sebastian. “The developer says they’re going to build new housing. This is all their property… it’s going to be interesting.” 

Last week, developer Tishman Speyer attended a land use meeting at Community Board 8 to further outline its plan and get feedback from neighbors.

Tishman Spayer provided the following statement:  

"We appreciated the opportunity to return to community board 8 to discuss our initial plans for a portion of the former visitation parish church site. This project will bring much-needed affordable housing and a new public school to the community.” 

Community Board 8 tells News 12 that it is working with the developer to address any quality of life issues that may arise, saying in a statement: 

“Our goal is to work together to mitigate impacts, and the Board looks forward to Tishman Speyer coming back to the Board to update the community."’ 

The community board says that Tishman Speyer has agreed to take measures that would address the parking and other quality of life issues raised by members of the community.