NEW YORK, NY – August 13, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — The boards of the New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA) and the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation (AHC) today approved nearly $43.9 million in financing to build and renovate 640 units of affordable housing in New York City.
“These financings provide innovative ways to create new affordable housing and renovate existing homes for New York City residents,” said Priscilla Almodovar, HFA and AHC President and Chief Executive Officer. “I am particularly proud that we are able to work with the Office of Mental Health to jointly finance a new supportive housing development in the Bronx. Our actions reinforce the Paterson administration’s goal of making New York State a better place to live and work.”
Selfhelp Kissena I and II
HFA approved $24.2 million in financing for major capital improvements at Selfhelp Kissena I and II, two senior Mitchell Lama housing developments in Queens that contain 424 units.
Kissena I is a 135-unit 12-story building located at 45-25 Kissena Boulevard. Kissena II is a 289-unit 19-story building located a block away at 137-45 45th Avenue. Selfhelp Community Services Inc., a not-for-profit created in 1936 to help refugees fleeing the Holocaust, runs a senior center connected to Kissena I that offers programs and meals to eligible seniors for a nominal fee.
The improvements will be made with the tenants remaining in place. The work includes new exterior lighting, faзade restoration, elevator replacement, renovation of public areas, new hot water heaters, restoration of the boilers, window replacement and kitchen and bathroom upgrades. The units will be reserved for residents aged at least 62 and with household incomes up to $36,840 for a family of two. The project has agreed to remain in the Mitchell Lama program for an additional forty years.
The borrower is Selfhelp (KI-KII) Associates LLC, an affiliate of Selfhelp Community Services Inc.
The total cost of the project is more than $43 million. In addition to the HFA financing, the project will receive an annual allocation of $1.445 million in Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits; an anticipated loan of $1.272 million from the NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) Weatherization Program; a tax abatement from the City of New York; and an allocation from the Federal Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) created by the Federal stimulus bill.
2240 Washington Avenue Apartments
HFA approved up to $15.6 million in financing to build an 80-unit supportive housing rental apartment building between Fletcher Place and East 183rd Street in the Tremont section of the Bronx. All the units will provide permanent supportive housing for low-income adults.
Fifty-five studio units will be reserved for tenants referred by the NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH) for persons with psychiatric disabilities. The remaining 25 units will house tenants referred by the Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS). The units will be reserved for tenants with one-person incomes of up to $32,280.
The borrower, Washington-Fletcher OMH LP, is controlled by Project Renewal, a nonprofit that will provide supportive services on site for the tenants. Project Renewal, which was founded in 1967 as the Manhattan Bowery Project, provides services to homeless individuals.
The total project cost is nearly $24.27 million. In addition to HFA financing, the project will receive an annual allocation of $984,131 in Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits; a $4.72 million loan from the NYS Homeless Housing Assistance Corporation; debt service payments on the permanent debt by OMH; a $265,650 capital loan from OMH; and a real estate tax exemption or abatement from New York City.
320 Sterling Street Co-ops
AHC approved a $3.6 million grant to the Housing Partnership Development Corporation to buy a 106-unit rental property at 320 Sterling Street in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn and renovate it into a cooperative. Ninety of the co-op units will be set aside for affordable purchasers; 16 will be sold at market rates.
The improvements will involve the installation of new kitchens and bathrooms, windows, hardwood floors, electrical wiring, plumbing and gas lines. The rehabilitation of the building will include the elevators, the addition of a laundry room and community room, the installation of a new entrance door and entrance ramp, and exterior fence, landscaping, a new intercom system and a camera security system.
The 80 one-bedroom affordable units will be reserved for households earning up to $55,014 for a family of four. The 10 two-bedroom will be set aside for owners with incomes up to $61,440 for a family of four.
The Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB), a nonprofit housing organization that owns the site, will act as developer and manage the property.
The total cost of the project is $13.7 million. In addition to the AHC grant, the project will receive $9.67 million from the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD); $636,792 in Resolution A funds provided by the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office; construction financing funded by the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC); and homeowner mortgages and equity.
Shorehaven Homes
AHC approved a $500,000 grant to Housing Partnership Development Corporation to build 25 affordable condos in a 164-unit Shorehaven Homes project in the Clason Point section of the Bronx.
The project is being developed as part of the seventh phase of a larger project, “Harbour Pointe at Shorehaven.” The 25 affordable units will consist of three two-bedroom and 22 three-bedroom units. When complete, the entire project will total 800 housing units.
The income limits for the affordable units will be households earning up to $101,990 for a family of four.
The total cost of the project is $9.96 million. In addition to the AHC grant, financing includes $500,000 in capital funds provided as a crossover subsidy from the sale of the market-rate units, construction financing funded by Bank of America, developer equity, and homeowner mortgages and equity.
RT NYC Home Improvement Program
AHC approved a $37,500 grant to Rebuilding Together New York City (RT NYC) to renovate five single-family homes in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.
Two homes are located in the Jamaica and Rockaway sections of Queens, two homes are located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant and Canarsie sections of Brooklyn, and one is located in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx.
This project is targeted to elderly recipients with a fixed income who are unable to perform the necessary repair work themselves. RT NYC utilizes a collaboration of in-kind donors and collaborators who provide skilled and unskilled laborers to perform the rehabilitation work. The grant awards will be limited to households earning up to $68,813 for a family of four.
The total cost of the project is $62,700. In addition to the AHC grant, the project will receive in-kind, skilled trade labor in the amount of $25,200 provided by the New York City District Council of Carpenters, Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) and the Office of Applied Innovations (OAI).
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The NYS Housing Finance Agency was created in 1960 to sell bonds to finance the construction and rehabilitation of multifamily affordable rental housing in New York State.
AHC, an HFA subsidiary, was established in 1985 to promote homeownership by low- and moderate-income households. Financial assistance approved annually by the New York State Legislature, combined with other private and public investment, is used for the construction, acquisition, rehabilitation and improvement of owner-occupied housing.
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Contact: Philip Lentz
Director of Communications
212-872-0679
plentz (at) nyhomes (dot) org
