$44.6 Million HEArts Center Breaks Ground in South Bronx

A long-vacant South Bronx property is being transformed into a nearly $44.6 million community center focused on health, education, the arts and workforce development.

Construction is beginning on the new HEArts Center at 349 East 140th Street in Mott Haven, which will redevelop the former Lincoln Recovery Center into a 26,805-square-foot community hub.

Led by the Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Stewards, the project will provide affordable space for community-based organizations and is expected to serve more than 1,000 visitors each month. Plans include classrooms and meeting rooms, health and wellness space, a commercial kitchen, a 120-seat auditorium and space for arts and workforce development programming.

New York State is supporting the project with more than $8.7 million in funding from Empire State Development, the Department of Environmental Conservation, NYSERDA and the New York State Council on the Arts.

The project is also notable for its community land trust model. Local residents and organizations spent more than a decade advocating for the reuse of the property, which has been vacant since 2013. The Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Stewards now holds a long-term lease on the property, helping ensure the site remains a community-serving asset.

The HEArts Center is expected to open in late 2028.