NEW YORK— New York City Department of Social Services (DSS) Commissioner Molly Wasow Park, New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) President Eric Enderlin, and SeaChange Capital Partners managing partner John MacIntosh today announced the disbursement of the inaugural loan from the New York City Shelter Acquisition and Predevelopment Fund (the “Fund”) to the experienced nonprofit shelter services provider Urban Resource Institute (URI). The loan, which totals $3.75 million, will cover the acquisition and predevelopment expenses required for shelter development and allow URI to develop, own, and operate this state-of-the-art 84-unit shelter facility for families with children experiencing homelessness. As part of the same project, URI will also construct 84 units of affordable and supportive housing – 51 supportive housing units and 33 affordable housing units – on an adjacent lot acquired with a loan from the NYC Acquisition Fund. Construction on the shelter component of this project is scheduled to begin in November 2024 and be completed by Spring of 2026 while construction on the housing development will be completed as a separate phase.
The upcoming shelter facility, located in Harlem, will provide families full apartments with in-unit kitchens, state-of-the-art facilities, and extensive on-site services, delivered by URI, including case management, individual and group counseling, permanency planning and housing placement assistance, independent living and life skills workshops, childcare, and out-of-school programming for children. Such services and supports are essential for helping families stabilize their lives during times of crisis and ultimately connect them to safe and stable permanent affordable housing options.
By facilitating the creation of more high-quality shelter facilities like this, the Department of Homeless Services (DSS-DHS) looks to improve the services and accommodations available to New Yorkers experiencing homelessness and build on the important progress the city has made in placing more households from shelter into permanent housing. In Fiscal Year 2024, through May, DSS connected over 20% more households to permanent housing than in the same period in the prior Fiscal Year.
“The NYC Shelter Acquisition and Predevelopment Fund is an important and novel tool for advancing our goal of opening long-term, high-quality, not-for-profit owned shelter facilities that more effectively serve New Yorkers experiencing homelessness,” said DSS Commissioner Molly Wasow Park “We are thrilled to provide the first loan from the Fund to our experienced not-for-profit provider Urban Resource Institute to support the development of this state-of-the-art shelter facility for families with children experiencing homelessness and we look forward to seeing them bring much-need affordable and supportive housing to Harlem as well. We are immensely grateful to SeaChange and HDC for their work developing the Fund a bringing together public and private funding to support the city’s shelter infrastructure.”
"We are proud to be part of this transformative collaboration announced by DSS Commissioner Park, which marks a significant step towards addressing homelessness in our city. The $3.75 million loan from the New York City Shelter Acquisition and Predevelopment Fund is a testament to our shared commitment to providing high-quality shelter and support services to families in need. At Urban Resource Institute, we see this as an opportunity not only to cover acquisition and predevelopment costs but also to foster nonprofit ownership of vital shelters. Our involvement in developing affordable and supportive housing further solidifies our dedication to creating holistic solutions for vulnerable populations. Together, we are building a stronger, more resilient community for all New Yorkers," said Nathaniel Fields, CEO of the Urban Resource Institute.
“Today’s announcement represents an important milestone in New York City’s efforts to implement creative solutions to address our homelessness crisis,” said HDC President Eric Enderlin. “Thank you to all our public and private partners involved in the creation of the Shelter Fund. We look forward to working with DSS and URI to provide families experiencing homelessness with safe, stable, and high-quality places to live, as well as help to support their transition to permanent housing.”
“SeaChange is honored to support URI and DHS in building a safe, high-quality shelter in Harlem serving New York's most vulnerable families,” said SeaChange Partner Taj Tabassoom. “In addition to housing, URI will provide wraparound support services to meet the needs of its residents. This project underscores the importance of supporting mission-driven operators like URI, whose dedication and expertise are essential in addressing the complex challenges of homelessness.”
The $15 million public-private Fund, comprised of $5 million in first-loss city capital and $10 million in philanthropic investment capital arranged by SeaChange Capital partners, was established to encourage nonprofit ownership of city shelters by providing short-term, below-market loans to bridge up-front costs associated with the acquisition of property for new shelter facilities. Because funds for these costs must be available quickly in order to secure the site, these costs often create significant fiscal burdens that can deter even experienced nonprofit providers from developing and owning their own shelters.
Shelter facilities developed, owned, and operated by nonprofit providers offer numerous benefits to clients, the City of New York, and the providers themselves. Such sites are developed with the specific needs of the client population in mind which ultimately produces more practical and higher-quality shelters operated and maintained by nonprofit providers equipped to provide stabilizing services to some of New York City’s most vulnerable residents. Furthermore, because DSS-DHS enters long-term contracts with nonprofit providers for sites they develop, own, and operate, annual costs are consistent for the duration of the contract and long-term public use of the site is guaranteed. Opportunities, like this one, for nonprofit providers to develop joint shelter and affordable housing projects bring much-needed affordable units to New York City.
Loans from the Fund are available to pre-qualified nonprofits whose projects have been selected through the DSS-DHS open-ended shelter Request for Proposals. Selected nonprofits can receive predevelopment loans for up to 130 percent of the costs associated acquisition and other predevelopment costs with a maximum loan size of $3.75 million. The Fund will support up to ten new shelter projects during its initial four-year phase, and because all loans will be repaid into the Fund, it can continue to support multiple projects over time. Nonprofit providers interested in learning more about the Fund, or applying can visit: https://seachangecap.org/shelterfund/.
