New York, N.Y.— New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Mathew M. Wambua today announced that the agency continues the instituted 25 percent preference for units in City-subsidized affordable housing developments for income-eligible New Yorkers displaced from their homes by Hurricane Sandy. The newest development to be subject to the preference is Harlem River Point North, a new affordable housing development now being marketed in the East Harlem section of Manhattan. All units are subject to a lottery managed by the developer and overseen by HPD and the City’s Housing Development Corporation (HDC).
Harlem River Point North is being developed as part of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s New Housing Marketplace Plan (NHMP). The NHMP is a multi-billion dollar initiative to finance 165,000 units of affordable housing for half a million New Yorkers by the close of Fiscal Year 2014. For every dollar invested by the City, the Plan has leveraged $3.43 from other sources for a total commitment of more than $21 billion to fund the creation or preservation of over 144,700 units of affordable housing across the five boroughs, with more than 48,549 units financed in Manhattan.
“We make every effort to connect New Yorkers who have been displaced by Sandy with interim or permanent housing. When we are successful, we know that these folks have been able to take a step toward regaining stability and moving their recovery process forward,” said HPD Commissioner Wambua.
“With these preferences for affordable apartments, residents displaced by Hurricane Sandy have great opportunities to return to permanent, sustainable housing,” said Brad Gair, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations.
Harlem River Point North is currently accepting applications. Completed applications must be returned by regular mail only and must be postmarked by June 27th, 2013. Qualified applicants will be required to meet income and family size guidelines and additional selection criteria. To request an application by regular mail to Harlem River Point North LLC, c/o PO BOX 387, Triborough Station, New York, NY 10035, or by visiting the website www.HRPNorth.com. As per the City’s affordable housing lottery rules, current and eligible residents of Manhattan Community Board 11 will receive preference for 50 percent of the units. In addition, income-eligible applicants who can document displacement by Hurricane Sandy and/or its related storms will receive preference for 25 percent of the units.
Located at 1951 Park Avenue & 121 East 131st Street in East Harlem, Manhattan, Harlem River Point North will have a total of 172 units; 35 of the units will be available to households earning up to 40 percent of Area Median Income (AMI)—equal to a household income of $34,360/year for a family of four; and 137 of the units will be available to households earning up to 60 percent of the AMI, which is equal to a household income of $51,540/year for a family of four. There are a total of 39 studios, 44 one-bedroom units, 73 two-bedroom units and 16 three-bedroom units. Of the 172 apartments, there is a preference for qualified households displaced by Hurricane Sandy for 43 units in the building. It is anticipated the development will be completed in 2014.
Harlem River Point North will meet the Enterprise Green Communities criteria and aims to meet NYSERDA energy efficiency standards.
The City of New York requires that subsidized apartments be rented through an open lottery system to ensure fair and equitable distribution of housing to eligible applicants. Marketing of the apartments and the application process for the lottery typically begin when construction is approximately 70 percent complete. For more information regarding the lottery process, current housing lotteries, how to apply to an open lottery, and if you would like to receive an e-mail when HPD updates its available apartment and home website listings for City-subsidized housing in the five boroughs, please visit the Apartment Seekers and Homebuyers pages at www.nyc.gov.
The total development cost for Harlem River Point North is $57.5 million. HDC provided $19.8 million in permanent financing in tax exempt bonds and reserves. HPD provided a total of $7.1 million in City Capital funds and $2.5 million in HOME funds. ACS contributed $1.6 million in City Capital. Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LITHC) equity in the amount of $22.6 million and New York State Low-income Housing Tax Credit (SLIHC) equity in the amount of $3.4 million will be syndicated by Wells Fargo.
The project was developed by L+M Development Partners. Curtis + Ginsberg Architects LLP served as architects for this project.
About the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD)
HPD is the nation’s largest municipal housing preservation and development agency. Its mission is to promote quality housing and viable neighborhoods for New Yorkers through education, outreach, loan and development programs and enforcement of housing quality standards. It is responsible for implementing Mayor Bloomberg’s New Housing Marketplace Plan to finance the construction or preservation of 165,000 units of affordable housing by 2014. Since the plan’s inception, more than 143,305 affordable homes have been created or preserved. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/hpd
About the Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations
The Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations is committed to planning and implementing innovative and effective solutions to the housing needs caused by Hurricane Sandy. Through NYC Rapid Repairs, the City has already completed emergency repairs on more than 17,000 residences. These emergency repairs are free of charge and include the restoration of heat, power and hot water and other limited repairs to protect a home from further significant damage.
About the NYC 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, when Mayor Bloomberg’s New Housing Marketplace Plan was launched, HDC has raised more than $6.7 billion in financing for affordable housing developments, including 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 2012, HDC was the fourth largest affordable housing lender in the U.S. after Citi, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, beating out JPMorgan Chase and Capital One. To date, under the Mayor’s plan, HDC has financed the creation or preservation of more than 67,000 affordable units in multi-family buildings that also include 1.7 million square feet of commercial space. For additional information, visit: www.nychdc.com
