Community at the Center: Unity Towers Modernization

For the modernization of Unity Towers in Coney Island, the people who know the development best—its residents—are playing an important role in shaping its future.

CTA is part of the Fifth Avenue Builders (FAB) design-build team working on the modernization of the 193-apartment development. The project will bring extensive improvements to residents’ homes and shared spaces, including new windows and façade repairs, full kitchen and bathroom upgrades, plumbing and ventilation improvements, heating optimization, safety and security upgrades, landscape improvements, and other building-wide work.

But the physical improvements are only part of the story.

Unity Towers residents voted to join the New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust in August 2024, and community engagement has helped shape the project since then. Two community visioning workshops were held to identify resident priorities and tailor the scope of work, with that feedback directly informing the project’s Request for Proposals. The Trust has continued that outreach through community meetings, surveys, direct resident engagement, and a dedicated community liaison.

That collaboration will continue as the project moves into design. Residents will have opportunities to provide input on finishes, colors, and other design elements—giving the community a voice in decisions that will directly affect their homes and everyday experience.

For CTA, that engagement is particularly important on a project of this scale. Modernizing occupied housing is not simply a matter of upgrading buildings; it requires understanding how people live in them and how improvements can meaningfully support their daily lives.

As part of the FAB team, CTA is proud to bring our experience in large-scale housing rehabilitation to a process that places residents at the center of the transformation of Unity Towers.