|
|
|
|
|
HDC Press Releases
|
|
January 30, 2006
|
|
HDC TO
FINANCE $3.7 MILLION
RENOVATION OF 104 APARTMENTS
FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES IN THE
BRONX
|
|
-- 1920s-Era Apartment Buildings
Will Be Preserved on the Grand
Concourse -- |
|
|
| Lucille Messina/HDC |
| 1326 Grand Concourse. |
The New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) today agreed to finance the
rehabilitation of two apartment houses built in 1925 in what is now the Grand Concourse Historic
District in the South Bronx. These six-story buildings, located at 1290 and 1326 Grand
Concourse, between East 169th Street and Marcy Place, contain 104 apartments, all of which are
occupied by working class families.
The Housing Development Corp. will issue a new mortgage loan of $3.68 million to be repaid
over 24.5 years or less. By purchasing the buildings’ existing HDC mortgage of $1.6
million, and issuing the new mortgage at a lower interest rate, HDC will provide money to
the buildings owner, B&L Concourse Housing, to make needed substantial renovations.
The Kraus Organization recently entered into an agreement to acquire the general partnership interest of
B&L in order to recapitalize this troubled affordable housing development and maintain its
affordability by refinancing the existing HDC mortgage. Repairs to be done on the building will include roof work,
elevator improvements, brick repointing, repairs to sidewalks, and upgraded kitchen
cabinets, counter tops and sinks, ranges and refrigerators and bathroom fixtures, and new
apartment flooring and new doors.
Built in 1925 when the Grand Concourse was viewed as the premier place to move for the
middle class fed up with overcrowding in Manhattan, the buildings had fallen into
abandonment by the early 1980s. In the mid 1980s, they were rehabilitated by the NYC Housing
Development Corp. working in conjunction with the New York City Department of Housing
Preservation and Development using money from a Federal Housing Development Grant. In April 1984,
Mayor Ed Koch stood on the steps of 1290 Grand Concourse to announce that rehabilitation
initiative with Anthony B. Gliedman, then the City housing commissioner. “Building the
Concourse spurred much of the development of the Bronx more than 70 years ago,” Commissioner
Gliedman said then. “Restoring these buildings will be a crucial step in rebuilding the
entire borough.”
Indeed, the Grand Concourse no longer has vacant buildings. “Our challenge today is to carry
forward the work begun 30 years ago by ensuring continual maintenance on these great
buildings,” said Emily A. Youssouf, the president of the Housing Development Corporation.
“Our refinancing today will maintain these buildings into the decades ahead – preserving a
critical component of affordable housing in New York City.”
|
###
|
|
Printer Friendly
Format |
|
|
|
