Construction has officially begun on Qwest Towers, a $160 million affordable housing development rising on land next to the Mount Vernon West Metro-North station that once held several vacant and dilapidated buildings. The project's groundbreaking took place Tuesday in Mount Vernon, and when finished it will bring 229 income-restricted apartments to a stretch of North MacQuesten Parkway that has been the target of redevelopment plans for nearly a decade.
Governor Kathy Hochul announced that construction was underway on the project, according to Daily Voice. The development consists of two mixed-use buildings — a 15-story structure at 25 North MacQuesten Parkway with 115 units and a 12-story building at 1 North MacQuesten Parkway with 114 units — according to case-study documentation from Goldstein Hall. Simone Development Companies, Stagg Group, and Rev. Dr. L'Judie Matt-Simmons are developing the project, the outlet's report notes.
While early announcements described the apartments as available to households earning up to 80 percent of the area median income, financing filings reviewed by Goldstein Hall specify that the 229 units are actually designated for households earning between 40 percent and 80 percent of Westchester County's AMI, establishing a lower income floor than initial descriptions suggested. Units will range from studios to one-, two-, and three-bedroom layouts, and the site includes twelve units set aside for residents with mobility disabilities and seven for residents with sensory disabilities, per the same account.
An All-Electric Build With Green Building Standards
The development is designed to meet both Enterprise Green Communities and Energy Star Multifamily New Construction standards, and it will run as an all-electric development, per the Daily Voice report. Planned features include Energy Star appliances, low-flow plumbing fixtures, landscaped and recreational rooftops, and electric vehicle charging, with materials chosen to improve indoor air quality and reduce energy use, according to state officials cited in that coverage. Two structured parking garages will together provide 170 spaces for residents and commercial tenants, per the governor's office.
Beyond housing, the buildings will include roughly 3,300 square feet of ground-floor commercial space along with community rooms for residents. An independent financial impact report prepared for the Mount Vernon Industrial Development Agency projected that all households moving into Qwest Towers would be new to Mount Vernon, and that the commercial space would generate local sales tax revenue benefiting the Mount Vernon City School District, according to Storrs Associates.
How the $160 Million Project Is Financed
The capital stack behind Qwest Towers blends public and private money. Financing includes federal and state low-income housing tax credits expected to generate more than $69 million in equity, $32.5 million in subsidy loans from New York State Homes and Community Renewal, and $5 million from Empire State Development's Mid-Hudson Momentum Fund, according to the Daily Voice report. Westchester County is contributing more than $19 million through its Housing Flex Fund and New Homes Land Acquisition Program.
Project documentation reviewed by Goldstein Hall also details $76 million in Housing Finance Agency bonds backed by a Bank of America letter of credit, $30 million in additional HFA subordinate loans, and $3.4 million in equity from Red Stone Equity Partners. In June 2025, the Mount Vernon Industrial Development Agency finalized a Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement and lease structure with Qwest Towers LLC that runs through June 30, 2059, according to filings with the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance.
Nine Years From Concept to Groundbreaking
The path to this week's groundbreaking stretches back to June 2017, when developer Joseph Simone and then-Mayor Richard Thomas first floated a concept for two 18-story towers on the same MacQuesten Parkway site, according to Mount Vernon Newswire. The site sits within Mount Vernon's Transit-Oriented Development Form-Based Zoning Code, adopted by the city in 2017 to encourage high-density mixed-use construction on former industrial land near the Mount Vernon West station.
Qwest Towers extends a redevelopment push along the same rail corridor that has already delivered The Modern (81 units in 2017), 22 South West (189 units in 2020), and Opal 115 (315 units), according to New York State Homes and Community Renewal. Once complete, residents will have direct rail access from Mount Vernon West to jobs across Westchester, New York City, and elsewhere in the Hudson Valley, per the Daily Voice report.
Addressing a Regional Housing Shortfall
The project is being framed by state officials as part of a broader response to a documented shortage. A Housing Needs Assessment commissioned by Westchester County found the region faces an overall deficit of 11,703 affordable housing units needed to meet baseline local demand, according to Westchester County Government. High land costs and property taxes across the county have contributed to severe rent burdens for low- and moderate-income workers.
Qwest Towers is being counted as part of New York's $25 billion, five-year housing plan, which aims to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes statewide, per the Daily Voice report. Beyond the apartments themselves, the project's funding also covers municipal infrastructure upgrades to Mount Vernon's stormwater and sewer systems, along with streetscape beautification, median landscaping, and decorative paving along North MacQuesten Parkway, according to Goldstein Hall's case-study documentation.
