NYC Housing Development Corp. Approves $135 Million To Build or Preserve 1,277 Apartments in 11 Buildings
Approval for 17th, 18th and 19th Senior Housing Buildings Under New Program, and 32nd Mitchell-Lama

The New York City Housing Development Corporation today approved more than $135 million in preservation or construction financing for 11 buildings in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens. Today’s approvals bring to more than 23,000 the number of affordable apartments approved by the Corporation under Mayor Bloomberg's New Housing Marketplace plan.

Most of today’s approvals will finance preservation of vacant and occupied buildings. Three senior citizens residences in Brooklyn that are in need of repair today were approved for $20.6 million in financing. The buildings, which contain a total of 263 apartments and were built under HUD’s Section 202 program, are located at 230 Kingston Avenue in Crown Heights and 609 Metropolitan Avenue and 318 Devoe Street in Williamsburg. These approvals bring to 1,923 the number of apartments preserved under the Corporation’s Section 202 Preservation Program, begun in December 2004.

While these three buildings are already occupied, the Corporation is helping to restore life to three vacant buildings in the Bronx in a project made possible by the success of an earlier effort to rehabilitate stately early 20th century apartment buildings. Today, the Corporation approved nearly $11.2 million in financing to restore 111 apartments at 1491 Montgomery Avenue and 1665 and 1669 Macombs Road in the Morris Heights neighborhood in the Bronx.

The Corporation today approved $18.845 million to finance the rehabilitation of the derelict Denison-White Mansion built circa 1850 and to construct a large addition to it that will contain 93 apartments reserved for low-income families. This new building, at 745 Fox Street at East 156th Street, will set aside apartments for grandparents who are raising grandchildren and will contain numerous environmentally friendly “green” elements, including the use of a geothermal heating and cooling system.

The corporation also approved $45.05 million in financing to allow for a mortgage restructuring at Seaview Towers, a two-tower, 462-unit Mitchell-Lama apartment complex in Far Rockaway – the latest action in the corporation's recently created Mitchell-Lama Preservation Programs that have preserved the affordability of more than 14,000 apartments in less than two years.

“In 2004, we created three great new preservation vehicles: The Section 202 Preservation Program, the Mitchell-Lama Mortgage Restructuring Program and the Mitchell-Lama Repair Loan Program,” noted Emily A. Youssouf, the president of the Corporation. “Less than two years later, these programs have led to awards from national housing organizations, but more importantly, they’ve allowed for the continued affordability of 14,965 apartments across the city. This would not have been possible without the help of our partners at the federal, state and city level.”

Not all of today’s actions will result in preservation, however. The Corporation also approved $39.45 million to finance the construction of two buildings containing 347 middle-income apartments at The Edge, a complex on the recently rezoned Williamsburg waterfront.