June 16th, 2014 - The Board of Directors of the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) approved the issuance of $372.56 million in bonds and $88.7 million in subordinate financing from HDC to fund 2,226 units of affordable housing in sixteen developments in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan. Among the projects that can now move forward are eleven buildings with 1,259 units to be newly constructed and seven projects with 967 units that will preserve and protect existing affordable housing. In addition, the Board authorized $40 million in corporate reserves to renovate and preserve as affordable two Mitchell-Lama developments with 569 units in Brooklyn.
The bonds authorized are a combination of tax-exempt and recycled bonds that will be used to finance affordable developments under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s ambitious Housing New York plan to create or preserve 200,000 affordable homes over the next decade. The developments approved for financing today map to the goals of the plan, ensuring affordability for a wide range of incomes, preserving and protecting existing affordable properties, offering new opportunities for growth and density, creating jobs for New Yorkers, and introducing commercial, community and retail space that – together with the affordable housing – is essential to knitting together the fabric of each development’s community.
“Each of these projects speaks to the core principles and values of the Plan: preservation of existing affordable housing; flexible financing innovations that spread our resources more widely; providing deeper affordability when possible, and creating community facilities, commercial and retail space that will further enhance and create economic empowerment in the neighborhoods they serve," said HDC President Gary Rodney. I thank our partners, and particularly the State of New York, for ensuring that we have these resources available to keep the city and our housing stock growing and healthy.”
“HDC has played and will continue to play a pivotal role in the City’s efforts to create and preserve affordable housing,” said Vicki Been, HDC Board Chair and Commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). “We must have strong financial partners to accomplish our goal of building or preserving 200,000 units of affordable housing over the next ten years. The City is fortunate to have HDC as a resource; they provide access to capital that would otherwise be much more difficult and expensive to secure, and more than that, they bring incredible expertise in creating and executing complex and enduring affordable housing transactions.”
Notable among the new construction projects funded is Harlem Dowling, a 60-unit low-income development to be located in Central Harlem with co-developers Harlem Dowling West Side Center for Children & Family Services, Alembic Community Development, and Children’s Village. The ten-story residential building will have of 58 low-income units affordable to households making at or below 60% AMI, and studio apartments set aside for youth aging out of foster care.
Preservation projects approved, and funded with HDC Corporate reserves, include two Mitchell-Lama developments in Brooklyn with a total of 569 units. A total of $40 million will finance senior and subordinate permanent mortgage loans for the rehabilitation and preservation of these developments. Proceeds from the loans will correct deteriorating conditions in these aging properties, giving them new life, while ensuring that the developments remain in the Mitchell-Lama program for the term of the new mortgage
Projects approved today that are expected to complete financing in June are:
- 261 Hudson Street: New construction of a 201-unit mixed-income development to be located in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan and developed by The Related Companies.
- 655 Morris Avenue: New construction of 176 low-income units, developed by Omni New York, located in the Melrose section of the Bronx at the southeast corner of Morris Avenue and 153rd street. Twenty percent of the units will be for homeless households.
- 810 River Avenue: New construction of a 17-story residential building with 134 mixed-income units, developed by Rockower Corp., in the West Concourse neighborhood of the Bronx.
- 1380 University Avenue: Rehabilitation of a multifamily apartment building located in the Highbridge section of the Bronx. The developer is Workforce Housing Advisors. Post-renovation, the building will have 139 apartments, with 62 one-bedroom units and 77 two-bedroom units.
- Cadman Towers: Moderate rehabilitation of city-supervised Mitchell-Lama cooperative development in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. Two buildings contain a total of 422 units at the property. The developer, Cadman Towers Inc., owns the project.
- Edgecombe Preservation: Moderate rehabilitation of a 254-unit, 15 building portfolio mainly situated in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, with L+M Development Partners, Inc. as developer.
- Gateway Elton III: Located in the Spring Creek section of East New York in Brooklyn, this is the third and final phase of the Gateway Elton project. The developers, Hudson Companies and Related, plan to develop two mixed-use buildings with 287 apartments for low-income households.
- Greenpoint Landing E3 and G2: Greenpoint Landing E3 and G2, both located in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, represent the first phase of the larger Greenpoint Landing master plan. The developers on both sites are L+M Development Partners, Inc. and Greenpoint Landing Developers, LLC. On the E3 site, the developers plan a seven-story, mixed-income building containing 98 residential units. The G2 sitewill have a six-story building with 93 residential units for low- and very low-income households.
- Harlem Dowling: New construction of a ten-story 60-unit low-income development in Central Harlem built by Harlem Dowling West Side Center for Children & Family Services, Alembic Community Development, and Children’s Village. The studios will be set aside for youth aging out of foster care.
- High Hawk Apartments: New construction of a 73-unit, eight-story mixed-use, mixed-income development at 1776 Boston Road in the Crotona Park East neighborhood of the Bronx, by developer High Hawk LLC.
- Mount Sharon: Substantial and moderate occupied rehabilitation of three existing buildings in the Kingsbridge, University Heights and Fordham Heights sections of the Bronx containing 106 units. The developer is Fordham Bedford Housing.
- Prospect Plaza I: New construction of 110 low-income residential units on NYCHA-owned property in the Ocean Hill section of Brooklyn with Blue Sea & Partners. Thirty eight units will be dedicated to wait-listed NYCHA tenants.
- Plover Apartments: Rehabilitation of four existing buildings in the South Bronx located at 1175 Gerard Avenue, 110 E. 176th Street, 2292 Loring Place, and 760 Hunts Point Avenue. All four buildings are part of HPD’s Third Party Transfer (TPT) program. Together they have a total of 138 units. The developer is Lemle & Wolf.
- PRC Monterey: Acquisition, consolidation and rehabilitation of two HUD-insured developments known as Monterey Gardens and MBD II developed by Property Resources Corporation (PRC). The 10 five- and six-story buildings have a total of 330 residential units for low-income households and are located in the East Tremont and Claremont Village neighborhoods in the Bronx.
- Sam Burt Houses: Moderate rehabilitation of a city-supervised Mitchell-Lama cooperative development in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn made up of one thirteen-story tower containing 124 units and 24 attached townhomes, for a total of 148 residential units. The developer is Sam Burt Houses, Inc.
- The Henry Apartments: New construction of two six-story buildings on two sites located directly across the street from each other in the Ocean Hill area of Brooklyn. The buildings will be developed by Alembic Development Corporation, LLC and will include a total of 133 units for low-income families.
- Williamsburg Apartments: Four separate newly constructed buildings in the South Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn. The developer, Yuco Real Estate Company, will build a total of 53 units for low- and very low-income households.
In total, the HDC Board voted to authorize $607.15 million in bonds. In addition to the more than $372 million for new projects, the amount includes the authorization of Multi-Family Housing Revenue Bonds, 2014 Series D in an amount not to exceed $150 million to securitize and re-leverage assets; Multi-Family Housing Revenue Bonds, 2014 Series E in an amount not to exceed $40 million to refund bonds and Multi-Family Housing Revenue Bonds, Series F in an amount not to exceed $60 million to recycle volume cap. The board also authorized the 2014 Series A, Multi-Family Housing Pass through Revenue Bonds, 2014 Series A in an amount not to exceed $50 million to securitize and re-leverage assets.
About the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC):
Since 2000, HDC has issued roughly 10% of all the multi-family housing revenue bonds in the U.S. and since 2003 HDC has raised more than $6.7 billion in financing for affordable housing developments, including providing in excess of $1 billion in subsidy from corporate reserves. In Affordable Housing Finance magazine’s annual listing of the nation’s top ten funders of multifamily housing, HDC is the only municipal entity on the list. In 2013, HDC was the third largest affordable housing lender in the U.S. after Citi and Wells Fargo, beating out Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Capital One. Since 2003, HDC has partially financed the creation or preservation of nearly than 74,000 affordable units. Multifamily buildings financed by HDC contain more than 1.7 million square feet of commercial space. For additional information, visit: www.nychdc.com.
