Affordable in Brooklyn

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

New York—The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and its partners have opened The Truxton Residence, a 48-unit supportive and affordable housing development in the Ocean Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. To mark the building’s opening, officials planted a blueberry bush in the building’s landscaped backyard.

Other partners in the project included the UnderServed (SUS), Enterprise Community Partners Inc., and Bank of America. Residents of the development have on-site access to supportive services through SUS. Founded in 1978, the nonprofit SUS is a human services agency for supporting individuals and families faced with mental illness, developmental disabilities and HIV/AIDS, among other conditions.

The Truxton Residence was developed on formerly city-owned land. The new five-story building includes all studio units, as well as 5,000 square feet of community space and a landscaped outdoor recreation space with seating and tables. The development was also designed to meet Enterprise Green Communities criteria, a national standard for green building in affordable housing.

All of the apartments are for low-income individuals, with 80 percent of the units reserved for formerly homeless people with mental health challenges. The development is open to households earning at or below 60 percent of the area median income, with rents for units for the formerly homeless subsidized with project-based Section 8 vouchers. Residents will be expected to contribute 30 percent of their monthly income toward rent payments.

As usual with this kind of development, financing was a complex matter. The property’s total development cost of was about $12.2 million. HPD awarded over $6 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, which Enterprise syndicated and for which Bank of America served as the investor. HPD also provided $4 million in HOME Funds towards permanent financing; $125,000 in City Capital; and $1.5 million in NSP2 Funds. The project also received $137,000 in NYSERDA Multi-Family Performance Benefits.