Dunbar Apartments | |
 courtyard (2014) | |
| Location | W. 149th and 150th St btwnFrederick Douglass &AC Powell Jr. Blvds. Manhattan,New York City |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°49′30″N73°56′18″W / 40.82500°N 73.93833°W /40.82500; -73.93833 |
| Area | 4.2 acres (1.7 ha) |
| Built | 1926–28[2] |
| Architect | Andrew J. Thomas |
| Website | https://dunbarapts.com/ |
| NRHP reference No. | 79001601[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | March 29, 1979 |
| Designated NYCL | July 14, 1970 |
TheDunbar Apartments, also known as thePaul Laurence Dunbar Garden Apartments orDunbar Garden Apartments, is a complex of buildings located onWest 149th andWest 150th Streets betweenFrederick Douglass Boulevard/Macombs Place andAdam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in theHarlem neighborhood ofManhattan,New York City. They were built byJohn D. Rockefeller Jr. from 1926 to 1928 to provide housing forAfrican Americans, and was the first large cooperative aimed at that demographic.[2] The buildings were designed by architectAndrew J. Thomas and were named in honor of the noted African American poetPaul Laurence Dunbar.
The complex consists of six separate buildings with a total of 511apartments (as constructed) and occupies an entire city block. The buildings center around an interior gardencourtyard, with each building U-shaped so that every apartment receives easy air flow and direct sunlight at some point during the day. The Dunbar is considered the "first largegarden-complex in Manhattan."[3]
The complex was designated aNew York City Landmark in 1970,[2] and was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1979.[4]
The Dunbar Apartments were constructed as an experiment in housingreform, to alleviate the housing shortage in Harlem and to provide housing for African Americans. Rather than being set up as rental apartments, the complex was ahousing cooperative. Tenants were required to pay a down payment of $50 per room, and then $14.50 per room per month, much of which went towards amortgage on the space. In 22 years, if payments were all made on time, the tenant would own the apartment. The project was both the first large cooperative aimed at African Americans, and also New York City's first largegarden apartment complex.[3]
The original tenants were primarily middle class, and inexpensivechildcare was provided on-site to support working mothers. However, the building opened in 1928, and theGreat Depression began just a year later. The management of the complex was forced to loosen a number of cooperative rules in order to allow people to, for example, take inlodgers. Even so, too many tenants failed to make their payments and the buildings defaulted on their mortgage to Rockefeller. Heforeclosed in 1936, and a year later the buildings were converted to rental units.
In June 2013, the Dunbar Apartments were sold to theBrooklyn-based developer E&M Associates. Plans were set in motion to upgrade the facilities and establish the Dunbar as one of the premier upscale complexes in Upper Manhattan. These plans include renovating the vacant apartments, updating and refurbishing the interior courtyard and garden, and the addition of a variety of amenities including a fitness center, playground, additional security and a doorman. The contract was acquired by Samuel Berry and Andrew Melohn ofDouglas Elliman working in conjunction withFredrik Eklund.[5]
Noted personalities to live in the Dunbar Apartments include leaders of theCivil Rights Movement such asW. E. B. Du Bois,Paul Robeson,James Weldon Johnson,Walter White,A. Philip Randolph, andNoah D. Thompson, writersClaude McKay andWilliam Melvin Kelley, entertainerBill "Bojangles" Robinson, poetCountee Cullen, and the explorerMatthew Henson.[2][6]
Notes
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