Affordable Housing Finance
October 13, 2015
The Community Preservation Corp. (CPC) announced the closing of 60 loans to create and preserve 4,291 units of housing during its last fiscal year, ending June 30.
The loans totaled $372 million, including $141 million in construction loans. CPC is a nonprofit lender providing capital to underserved neighborhoods throughout the state since 1974.
To date, CPC has invested more than $9 billion in more than 159,000 units of housing in communities throughout the state of New York.
“For more than four decades CPC has been providing innovative and flexible lending solutions to help meet the demand for stable, quality housing in cities and neighborhoods across New York state like Harlem, Buffalo, Syracuse, Poughkeepsie, and Saratoga Springs,” says Rafael E. Cestero, president and CEO.
Projects that have closed during the past fiscal year include:
· 70 West 139th Street in Central Harlem in New York City: The eight-story development will contain 64 condominium units, 42 of which will be affordable to families with incomes ranging from 80% to 165% of the area median income (AMI). CPC is providing a $21.3 million construction loan to Harlen Park Development, a first-time CPC borrower. The site was originally sold to Harlen Park Development by the city in 1980 as part of a Land Disposition Agreement (LDA) that included 14 contiguous buildings on West 139th Street. However, a fire gutted four of the buildings, necessitating a change to the original development plan, which required amending the LDA. CPC has worked Harlen Park Development since 2006 to have the development site released from the LDA, which required approvals from the city council and the mayor’s office, as well as the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and Department of Buildings.
· 500 Seneca Street in the Hydraulics District of Buffalo: The project will involve the conversion of a vacant four-story warehouse into a mixed-use development with 108 workforce units available for area residents and 120,000 square feet of commercial space for office and retail use. CPC provided a $24 million construction loan to 500 Seneca Street, a first-time CPC borrower. As one of the first apartment buildings in the Hydraulics District, the development is part of CPC’s ongoing commitment to revitalizing downtown Buffalo. A former brownfield site, 500 Seneca Street needed extra environmental cleanup, which has resulted in improved land and historic tax credits to protect the landmark former factory.
· Interfaith Towers in Poughkeepsie: The project is a 135-unit senior housing development. CPC provided a $2.1 million construction loan to Sixty-Six Washington Street. Originally built in the early 1970s by multiple religious organizations to address concerns for the welfare of low- and moderate-income senior citizens in Poughkeepsie, the fully occupied, 12-story Interfaith Towers was renovated by the developer. The building contains 124 one-bedroom units and 11 two-bedroom units and houses seniors earning less than 30% AMI.