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HDC Press Releases
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April
21, 2009
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New York City Housing Development Corporation Directors Approve First Ever Recycled Bonds For Two Developments
Welcomes New Chairman, NYC Housing Preservation And Development Commissioner Rafael E. Cestero
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NEW YORK, NY, April
21st, 2009 – The New
York City Housing
Development Corporation
(HDC) Board of Directors
today welcomed NYC
Department of Housing
Preservation and
Development Commissioner
Rafael E. Cestero as the
new HDC Board Chairman
and at the meeting
approved the nation’s
first “recycled” bonds
for affordable housing
projects in the Bronx
and Staten Island. The
Board also approved $72
million in tax-exempt
Multi-family Housing
Revenue Bonds, of which
$58 million are recycled
bonds, for other
eligible projects
expected to close in the
second half of 2009.
The recycled bonds were
issued in accordance
with the Federal Housing
and Economic Recovery
Act of 2008 (HERA) which
allows for the refunding
of tax-exempt
multifamily housing
bonds and using the
refunding proceeds to
finance new development
activity without having
to use new private
activity bond cap. Under
the law, housing
agencies such as HDC
have six months to make
a loan from recycled
bonds. Over the course
of the next several
years, HDC anticipates
benefitting from as much
as $600 million in
recycled bond capacity.
HDC Chairman Cestero
said: “I am pleased to
take on this new role as
Chairman of the nation’s
number one issuer of
multifamily housing
bonds. HPD and HDC have
a strong, symbiotic
relationship that I
fully expect to grow for
the good of our
neighborhoods and our
neighbors, in service of
Mayor Michael R.
Bloomberg’s New Housing
Marketplace Plan to
produce or preserve
165,000 affordable homes
for 500,000 New
Yorkers.” By statute,
the City’s HPD
Commissioner also serves
as HDC Chair.
HDC President Marc Jahr
said: “HDC has long been
the leader in affordable
housing finance. I am
proud of the spirit of
innovation that has
become our hallmark. We
pushed last year – with
the invaluable
assistance of Senator
Schumer and
Representative Rangel –
to secure the ability to
recycle refunded bonds
and put them back into
productive use for
affordable housing
development. The Board’s
action today solidifies
our reputation as the
pace setter – HDC is the
first in the nation to
put recycled bonds into
service for the greater
good of the City of New
York and its
neighborhoods.”
St Ann’s Terrace,
located in the Melrose
section of the Bronx,
will be built in two
phases on a site owned
by the developer—Jackson
Development
Group—bounded by St.
Ann’s Avenue, East 156th
Street, Eagle Avenue and
East 159th Street. The
first phase consists of
six newly constructed
buildings containing a
total of 480 units. Of
these, 340 will be
available to low-income
families making 60%
Annual Median Income
(AMI) or $46,080 for a
family of four, with 95
of those units reserved
for formerly homeless
tenants. Another 122
will be set aside for
families earning from
80% to 100% AMI ($61,440
- $76,800/yr for a
family of four.) The HDC
Board authorized a total
of $79 million in
tax-exempt bonds to
provide construction and
permanent financing.
Three of the buildings
will use $27 million in
recycled tax-exempt
bonds and the other
three buildings will use
$52 million in Private
Activity Bond Volume
Cap. In addition to the
residential portion, the
development is expected
to contain approximately
50,000-square-feet of
ground floor retail
space in the residential
buildings and
underground parking with
176 spaces available.
The second phase of
construction envisions
two additional buildings
with about 140
residential units, both
rental and ownership,
and 224 parking spaces.
Taken as a whole, the
development will provide
an enormous boost to the
ongoing revival of the
South Bronx.
In Staten Island, the
Board approved $13.5
million in Private
Activity Bond Volume Cap
and $6.5 million in
recycled bonds for the
construction of senior
citizen housing on Broad
Street in Stapleton. The
project, to be built in
collaboration with the
NYC Housing Authority on
land that they own, is
proposed as an
eight-story elevator
building containing
105-unit low-income
rental homes for seniors
with incomes no higher
than 60% AMI. The
project is expected to
include 33 parking
spaces. The developers
are BFC, in partnership
with not-for-profit
Housing Partnership
Development Corporation.
The directors approved
issuing approximately
$14 million in
tax-exempt bonds,
subject to the Private
Activity Bond Volume
Cap, to construct 2264
Morris Avenue, an
11-story newly
constructed rental
building, with 88 units:
27 studios; 14
one-bedroom units; 47
two-bedroom units; and
community space. All of
the units are to be
rented to households
earning not more than
60% of the New York City
area median income. The
developer is Atlantic
Development.
The New York City
Housing Development
Corporation (HDC)
provides a variety of
financing programs for
the creation and
preservation of
multi-family housing
that meets the wide
range of affordable
housing needs of the
City's economically
diverse population.
HDC is implementing
Mayor Bloomberg’s New
Housing Marketplace Plan
to build and preserve
165,000 units of
affordable housing for
500,000 New Yorkers. The
New Housing Marketplace
Plan is the largest
municipal affordable
housing effort in the
nation’s history.
Contacts:
Christina Sanchez (HDC), (212)-227-2644, csanchez@nychdc.com
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