FINANCING FOR OVER 2,900 AFFORDABLE APARTMENTS APPROVED BY THE NEW
YORK CITY HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION BOARD MEMBERS
HDC to Issue $244 Million in Tax-Exempt and Taxable
Bonds
Includes 570 Affordable Apartments for Senior
Citizens
New York, NY, December 9, 2004
Members approved financing for four developments, consisting of more than 570 apartments that target the affordable housing needs of seniors in the City. A new development for independent seniors will be constructed at 596 Albany Avenue in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. The development, Kings County Senior Residence, will utilize $20.9 million in tax-exempt bond financing to construct a six-story building with 173 apartments. Eighteen of these apartments will be reserved for homeless seniors. HDC was also approved to issue $13.5 million in bonds for a 501(c)(3) organization, West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, Inc (WSFSSH). This organization will receive a mortgage loan from the proceeds of the bond sale to purchase a senior residence known as Marseilles Apartments. This development is a 135 unit building located on Manhattan's Upper West Side at 230 West 103rd Street.
Another senior focused transaction is the refinancing of two established senior developments, Phelps House and Wien House. These developments were initially financed through a Housing and Urban Development program established in the 1970's to produce low-income senior housing, known as Section 202. By refinancing these mortgages through the use of tax-exempt bonds, the new loans will be made at a significantly lower interest rate and qualify them to receive federal low-income housing tax credit. This will give the developments more equity to add supportive services for the seniors and to make necessary improvements to the properties to ensure long term viability. Phelps House, located at 595 Columbus Avenue at 88th Street, is an 11-story building that contains 169 apartments and will receive a $12.6 million mortgage. Wien House, located at 60 Nagle Avenue in Inwood, is a 14-story building with 100 apartments and will receive a $9.5 million mortgage.
Other affordable housing initiatives to receive financing approval include transactions to create or preserve over 700 low-income apartments in six different developments throughout the City. The financing is made possible through HDC's Low-Income Affordable Marketplace Program (LAMP). This program provides financing for the creation of apartments made affordable to individuals and households making no more than 60% of Area Median Income (AMI) or $37,680 for a family of four.
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$14 million was approved to create a 210 unit development located on various sites on Macombs Road and University Avenue in the Bronx. It includes the rehabilitation of 4 vacant buildings previously owned by the New York City Housing Authority and the construction of a new building on a vacant lot previously owned by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
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$18.3 million was approved for the new construction of a 10-story building containing 118 apartments. The Nave, located at 2087 Madison Avenue in Manhattan, will also reserve twelve apartments for formerly homeless tenants and an additional twelve will be reserved for households earning up to 80% of AMI, or $50,240 for a family of four.
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$20 million was approved to rehabilitate a 191 unit apartment building, Thessalonica Court, located at 350 St. Ann's Avenue in the Bronx.
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$10 million was approved to rehabilitate four buildings consisting of 95 apartments, Brookhaven Apartments, located at 197 Brook Avenue in the Bronx.
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$10.5 million was approved to finance the new construction of an eight-story building containing 130 apartments located at 1434 Ogden Avenue between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and West 171st Street in the Bronx. Thirteen of the units will be reserved for formerly homeless tenants.
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$9 million was approved for the new construction of an eight-story building containing 100 apartments located at 228-238 Nagle Avenue between Dyckman Street and West 204th Streets in Upper Manhattan. Ten of the units will be reserved for formerly homeless tenants.
The Members also approved financing through HDC's middle-income program known as the New Housing Opportunities Program (New HOP). This program provides mortgages through the sale of taxable bonds. These developments will also receive a 1% second mortgage made through HDC's corporate reserves. Apartments created through this program are primarily rented to households earning up to 175% of AMI or $109,000 for a family of four.
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$9.8 million was approved to finance the new construction of 18 three-story townhouses each containing four rental units for a total of 72 apartments located at 1054-1096 Bergen Avenue in Brooklyn.
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$2.8 million was approved to finance the new construction of a seven-story building with a total of 32 apartments located at 250 West 116th Street.
A mixed-income "50/30/20" development was approved for $54 million in tax-exempt financing. This program finances economically integrated developments that reserve 20% of the building's units for low-income tenants, 30% for middle-income tenants, and the remaining 50% are rented out at market. This 25-story apartment building will consist of 211 apartments and will be located at West 61st Street between West End Avenue and Miller Highway.
The Members also approved the issuance of $30 million in bonds to make permanent mortgage loans for developments that were previously financed through HDC's corporate reserves. Through this transaction the Corporation will be able to re-lend this money to finance more affordable units throughout the City.