Financing in Place for $278M Brooklyn Mixed-Income Project
A 586-unit mixed-income asset is set to break ground in Downtown Brooklyn now that land, LIHTC and $177.5 million in financing are in place.
By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor
New York—Financing has been finalized for 250 Ashland Place, a Downtown Brooklyn development that will include 586 new apartments, with 282 of the units being permanently affordable to low-income and middle-income residents. According to the developers, Gotham Organization and DT Salazar Inc., now that financing is secured, the project will break ground in the coming weeks.
The asset is being financed under the city’s New Housing Marketplace Plan, an initiative to finance 165,000 units of affordable housing by the close of the 2014 fiscal year. The total development cost of the 250 Ashland Place is $278 million. The NYC Housing Development Corp. (HDC) is providing a total of $177.5 million of financing, of which $33 million is tax-exempt bonds, $2.5 million is an HDC subordinate loan, and $142 million is a loan originated by HDC and a consortium of private lenders comprised of Wells Fargo, TD Bank and Capital One.
To help further subsidize construction and ensure the project’s affordability, The NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) provided the land for this project at a nominal cost. HPD is also allocating 4 Percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits that will generate about $19.3 million in equity towards the project.
250 Ashland Place will have a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Of the 282 permanently affordable apartments, 118 units will be affordable to low-income households earning up to 60 percent of area median income (AMI), or about $51,540 for a family of four. Eight-two units will be affordable to households earning up to 135 percent of AMI, or about $115,965 for a family of four. The other 82 units will be affordable to middle-income households earning up to 165 percent of AMI, or about $141,735 for a family of four. There will be one unit reserved for the building’s superintendent.
The development will be on a formerly city-owned vacant site in the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District. According to HPD Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas, the district is one of the city’s most important centers for the arts, drawing creative talent to the borough. “This project, and those to come, will transform vacant and underused lots into mixed-income affordable housing for artists, performers, and for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers,” she says.
The 52-story building, which has been designed by architects FXFOWLE, will also include about 8,000 square feet of office space for cultural institutions, along with 10,200 square feet of retail space along Fulton St. The building is being built to attain sustainability certification through Enterprise Green Communities criteria, which is required on all city-subsidized affordable housing new construction and substantial rehabilitation projects.
