Jamaica’s Hillside North Lands $1.2M State Award for 100% Affordable Passive House Design

• 161-09 13 Hillside Avenue, Jamaica, Queens, NY is the site of Hillside North, a 14-story, 173-unit affordable housing building developed by Gilbane Development and .
• Hillside North has received a $1.2 million NYSERDA Buildings of Excellence award for its Passive House design, energy efficiency and resilience strategies. NYSERDA lists the building at approximately 170,037 square feet, with completion anticipated in 2029.
• The project is designed to achieve PHI Classic Passive House certification and will include approximately 12,000 square feet of community-serving retail, along with rooftop solar, high-performance building systems and transit-oriented amenities.

What Gilbane And MURAL Are Building

Hillside North is part of the first phase of the Jamaica Hillside redevelopment, which will ultimately bring two buildings and 400 affordable residences to the Queens neighborhood. The North Building will provide 173 deeply affordable homes, including units reserved for formerly homeless residents. Supportive services are planned through Elmcor Youth and Adult Activities, a Queens-based nonprofit.

 

 

What The $1.2M NYSERDA Award Recognizes

NYSERDA selected Hillside North as one of its 2026 Buildings of Excellence winners, recognizing multifamily projects that demonstrate innovative approaches to energy efficiency, carbon reduction, resiliency and resident health. The award is particularly notable because Hillside North combines 100% affordable housing with Passive House performance, creating a high-performance building without shifting away from the project's affordability mission. NYSERDA lists the total project cost at approximately $72.2 million.

What Makes Hillside North Energy Efficient

The building's sustainability strategy goes beyond its Passive House envelope. Planned systems include triple-pane windows, high-performance insulation, heat-pump systems, centralized energy recovery ventilation, MERV-13 filtration and real-time energy monitoring. The project will also incorporate rooftop solar, rainwater harvesting, bioswales and a green roof, while a backup-power strategy will support critical building functions during outages. Other BOE features include blackwater-source heat pumps for domestic hot water, demand-response capabilities, operable windows in common areas and enhanced commissioning of building systems.

What The Transit Location Adds

Hillside North is positioned along the Hillside Avenue corridor, with access to subway, bus and commuter rail connections. The transit-oriented design includes interior bicycle storage and places the development within a quarter-mile of bus service and within a half-mile of other mass transit. For affordable housing developers, the location also demonstrates how energy-efficient construction can be paired with transit access to reduce long-term household costs.

What Comes Next

NYSERDA currently lists Hillside North in the construction documents stage, with completion anticipated in 2029. The project is expected to close on construction financing in December 2026, according to the development team. For Gilbane and MURAL, the award puts Hillside North among New York's notable examples of high-performance affordable housing, combining 173 affordable homes with Passive House standards and resilient infrastructure.