Three developments in Harlem and one in East New York are expected to create 2,800 construction jobs and provide 739 units of affordable housing. The projects are financed using $60 million or 70 percent of the funds allocated from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) that aims to increase availability of the number of new or recently renovated affordable housing units in the market place.
“New York City is the first city in the nation to put stimulus for housing projects to use, and that means real jobs and affordable housing for New Yorkers,” stated Mayor Bloomberg. “Thanks to New York City’s congressional delegation, the city received tens of millions of dollars to revive stalled affordable housing projects, and we’re putting it to use to provide affordable housing for more than 700 families and create more than 2,800 jobs for New York City’s construction workers, architects, engineers, electricians, plumbers, and others who have been hit hard by the recession,” he continued.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced the plans for construction on Monday at the site of Hobbs Court in East Harlem, which is slated to open in 2011. The site is home to 12 worn-out buildings on East 102nd Street, which will be demolished to make room for the new development that will offer 259 residential apartments with community facility space and underground parking.
The second part of the East Harlem development will be located on East 100th Street, where five vacant six-story buildings will be remodeled to comprise one complex named “The Ciena” that will include 81 residential units with elevators and an open-space landscape area.
Qualified New York residents who previously resided at the Hobbs Court and Ciena sites as part of the Project Based Section 8 housing will have the opportunity to return to the newly constructed developments after opening. The affordable housing units, which will contain green and sustainable elements, will be available to families earning up to $46,080 a year and single residents earning up to $32,280 a year.
The other three planned developments include the Balton and Douglass complexes at West 127th Street in Harlem that will provide 226 residential spaces, and the Livonia Terrace on Alabama Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn that will open 173 affordable units.
The total projected cost for the four construction sites, which is estimated at $143.5 million, is offset by $21.7 million from the New York City Housing Development Corporation and a $71.4 million loan from JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon. JPMorgan Chase will also invest $38.8 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credit equity to pay down the construction loan at permanent conversion, and Phipps Houses, one of the builders, will invest $1.9 million as equity and advance $700,000 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to implement energy-saving measures.
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