55 Morris Avenue is a fifteen-story new construction building on the corner of Morris Avenue and 153rd Street in the Melrose neighborhood of the Bronx
Twenty percent of the units at 655 Morris Avenue will serve formerly homeless households
Bronx, N.Y. – (RealEstateRama) — New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer and New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) President Eric Enderlin join Omni New York, Bank of America and other project partners to announce the completion of 655 Morris Avenue, a new construction affordable housing development in the Melrose neighborhood of the Bronx.
This new development includes 175 low- and moderate-income units of affordable housing, and one superintendent unit. Twenty-two of the units are available to households earning a maximum of $63,000 for an individual or $90,600 for a family of four. Another 153 units are available to households earning up to $38,100 for an individual or $54,360 for a family of four. Twenty percent (35) of the units are reserved for formerly homeless households, 17 of which are reserved for formerly homeless veterans.
“Today we celebrate the completion of a new development that truly exemplifies the Mayor’s plan to create a more affordable city for all New Yorkers,” said HDC President Eric Enderlin. “655 Morris Avenue will serve a wide range of incomes and be home to residents as diverse as The Bronx and the city itself; from our working class to the formerly homeless, including formerly homeless veterans. I commend Omni and all our partners at Monadnock Construction, Mill Plain Properties, Reliant Realty Services, Alliant Capital, and Bank of America for sharing the Mayor’s vision and for working with the teams at HDC and HPD to deliver such a terrific project”.
The total development cost for 655 Morris Avenue was $63.8 million. The building was financed under HDC’s Low-Income Affordable Marketplace Program (LAMP) program. HDC provided $31.31 million in tax exempt bonds and $11.44 million in subordinate debt to the project. HPD provided $11.26 million in City Capital and 4% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits with $21.18 million in tax credit equity. The 35 units made available to formerly homeless households are subsidized with Section 8 vouchers. Alliant Capital, Ltd. served as the tax credit syndicator. Bank of America served as lender.
“Morris Avenue Apartments is a great example of the positive results public and private collaboration can have on communities,” said Maurice Coleman, Senior Vice President of Community Development Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, “The bank provided a $31 million construction period letter of credit, working with the city and developers to create safe affordable housing for families in New York. We are committed to supporting developments, like Omni New York to make a positive and lasting impact on the community.”
The developer, Omni New York, is seeking LEED Gold certification for this green building designed by Meltzer/Mandle Architects with Loci Architecture as construction architect.
The building’s efficiency features include a natural gas-fueled cogeneration system, energy-efficient appliances and lights, low-flow water fixtures, and a passive green roof. The building also includes bike parking, state of the art facial recognition building access, 8,600 square feet of community facility space and 9,500 square feet of commercial space. More than 75 spaces of on-site vehicle parking are also available for an additional fee.
“We at Omni are excited to open our first new construction building in New York City,” said Eugene Schneur, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Omni New York LLC. “Built to meet some of the highest eco-friendly standards in the industry, we are very proud to offer these new, quality affordable housing options for New Yorkers, including formerly homeless veterans. I would like to thank HPD, HDC and Bank of America for helping make the Morris Avenue Apartments a reality.”
The 217,454 square foot mixed-use building is the developers first ground-up new construction project and is built on a portion of land on a previous HDC-financed Omni New York rehabilitation project called Maria Lopez Plaza.
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The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD)
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is the nation’s largest municipal housing preservation and development agency. Its mission is to promote quality housing and diverse, thriving neighborhoods for New Yorkers through loan and development programs for new affordable housing, preservation of the affordability of the existing housing stock, enforcement of housing quality standards, and educational programs for tenants and building owners. HPD is tasked with fulfilling Mayor de Blasio’s Housing New York: A Five-Borough Ten-Year Plan to create and preserve 200,000 affordable units for New Yorkers at the very lowest incomes to those in the middle class. For more information visit www.nyc.gov/hpd and for regular updates on HPD news and services, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @NYCHousing.
New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC)
HDC is the nation’s largest municipal Housing Finance Agency and is charged with helping to finance the creation or preservation of affordable housing under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York plan. Since 2003, HDC has financed more than 120,000 housing units using over $13.7 billion in bonds, and provided in excess of $1.6 billion in subsidy from corporate reserves. HDC ranks among the nation’s top issuers of mortgage revenue bonds for affordable multi-family housing on Thomson Reuter’s annual list of multi-family bond issuers. In each of the last four consecutive years, HDC’s annual bond issuance has surpassed $1 billion. For additional information, visit: http://www.nychdc.com
CONTACT: Juliet Pierre-Antoine (HPD), morrisj (at) hpd.nyc (dot) gov
Stephanie Mavronicolas (HDC), smavronicolas (at) nychdc (dot) com
