Ground Broken for Yonkers Workforce Housing

Yonkers, N.Y.–The Yonkers Industrial Development Agency, L+M Development Partners Inc. and the Greyston Foundation have broken ground on 49 North Broadway, an affordable multifamily housing development. The $32 million project will provide 92 units for workforce housing in downtown Yonkers.

The development will consist of one 12-story tower that will include studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The apartments will be available for Yonkers residents with incomes no higher than 60 percent of the Westchester County area median income. Ninety-eight parking spaces for the development will be located in the new 300-space Larkin Plaza parking facility, which is nearby on Woodworth Ave.

The 49 North Broadway development is part of an effort by the City of Yonkers to revitalize the nearby waterfront area, which will include the restoration of five historic buildings along Warburton Ave. Once complete, the restored buildings will provide additional housing and retail space.

As usual for this kind of development, finance was complex. HCR, which is comprised of housing and community renewal agencies of New York, awarded 49 North Broadway 4 percent low income housing tax credits (LIHTCs). The award was made by one of HCR’s affiliate agencies, the New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA), with the commitment of HFA tax-exempt bonds. The bonds were allocated through the HFA’s New Issuance Bond Program, a joint effort with the U.S. Treasury, which agreed to purchase the HFA’s bonds. The New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal also provided subsidy financing for the project.

Bank of America provided a construction period letter of credit, while Goldman Sachs is providing equity through the purchase of LIHTCs. The Yonkers IDA provided several financial incentives, including a sales- and use-tax exemption for materials and equipment used in construction, a mortgage-recording tax exemption and a structured property tax agreement. Subsidy financing was made available by the City of Yonkers Office of Community Development through its HOME program.

Affordable housing finance will likely become even more complex in the years ahead, considering the current climate of austerity. “It will get more difficult,” Ellen Lynch, president and CEO of the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency, tells MHN. “Funds are limited, with competition for available dollars growing more intense. Financing agreements take longer to close, and a drawn-out process can kill deals.”

The 49 North Broadway development is the second of four investments L+M is making in Yonkers. The first was an 11-story, 137-unit affordable rental property now nearing completion. The third is the aforementioned restoration of the historic buildings along Warburton Ave., and the fourth is a seven-story affordable development on Ravine Ave., with 76 rental apartments currently in the planning stages. For Greyston, this development represents the conclusion of a 10-year process to assemble the sites.