As part of the city's efforts to create affordable home ownership and rental housing - 4 sites along the Third Avenue corridor in Melrose Commons were offered for a competitive bid by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (NYC HPD). These four properties were won by the development team of Nos Quedamos, L+M Equity Participants, Procida Construction Corp. and Melrose Associates with Magnusson Architecture and Planning as architect.

Designed primarily as an affordable condominium development, the first sites - the Aurora and the Orion became the first condominium buildings built in the South Bronx.

The design of the buildings for these four site follow the tradition of strong bases, utilize retail space on the street level, and create a middle masonry ground that is topped by stronger expressions of the upper floors. Corners are articulated to enliven intersections and mark entries, while facades are organized to accentuate adjacent open spaces, broad intersections and gateways to the neighborhood.

This new family of buildings is characterized by a common palette of masonry, two story expressions, vertical accent areas with extensive glass and corner expressions where suitable.