The New York Real Estate Journal
May 22, 2012
Buffalo, NY Continuing its commitment to provide financing for affordable multifamily housing, The Community Preservation Corp. (CPC) has closed on a $1 million permanent loan for East Village Lofts, a newly renovated mixed-use building featuring 42 low-income apartments and 4,000 s/f of commercial space.
Located at 937 Broadway, the 4-story building was formerly a vacant light manufacturing and warehouse facility.
It was redeveloped in cooperation with the New York State Housing Trust Fund and Homes for Working Families program. All of the apartment units and commercial space have been leased. East Village Lofts is located in the Broadway/Fillmore area of the city, an area that has been undergoing significant redevelopment.
The borrower is 937 Broadway LLC, a limited liability company whose members are Christopher Gerhart and Eran Epstein, also co-managers of the property. Gerhart is the founder and president of CWG Development Associates, Inc., a full-service, real estate development firm specializing in affordable and supportive housing. Epstein is the owner and principal of E Square Capital, responsible for the company’s acquisitions and asset management.
“This loan coincides with CPC beginning its 16th year in making a significant impact on Buffalo’s affordable residential market, a record for which we take great pride,” said Nick Petragnani, senior vice president/regional director of CPC’s Central and Western N.Y. region office, which handled the loan.
Since 1996, CPC has provided more than $300 million in financing for projects in the Greater Buffalo Area representing nearly 8,000 units of housing, with almost half of those units in the City of Buffalo.
Among the many projects financed by CPC in the Buffalo area are Ellicott Lofts, Holy Family Senior Apartments, Sycamore Village and 800 Main Street. CPC continues to remain committed to help smaller developers restore Upstate New York’s neighborhoods one block at a time.
The Community Preservation Corporation is a not-for-profit mortgage lender that finances residential multifamily development throughout New York. Since its founding in 1974, CPC has invested more than $8 billion in over 144,000 units of housing.