Dunbar Apartments
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Dunbar Apartments
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courtyard (2014)
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| Location | W. 149th and 150th St btwn Frederick Douglass & AC Powell Jr. Blvds. Manhattan, New York City |
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| Coordinates | 40°49′30″N 73°56′18″W / 40.82500°N 73.93833°WCoordinates: 40°49′30″N 73°56′18″W / 40.82500°N 73.93833°W |
| Area | 4.2 acres (1.7 ha) |
| Built | 1926–28 |
| Architect | Andrew J. Thomas |
| NRHP Reference # | 79001601 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | March 29, 1979 |
| Designated NYCL | July 14, 1970 |
The Dunbar Apartments is a complex of buildings located on West 149th and West 150th Streets between Frederick Douglass Boulevard/Macombs Place and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. They were built by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. from 1926 to 1928 to provide housing for African Americans, the first project of its kind. The buildings were designed by architect Andrew J. Thomas and were named in honor of the noted African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar.
The complex consists of six separate buildings with a total of 511 apartments (as constructed) and occupies an entire city block. The buildings center around an interior garden courtyard, 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 large garden-complex in Manhattan."
The complex was designated a New York City Landmark in 1970, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The Dunbar Apartments were constructed as an experiment in housing reform, 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 a housing 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 a mortgage 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 large garden apartment complex.
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