Harlem Affordable Property Lands $18M Overhaul
Originally built as a hospital, Mannie Wilson Towers offers 102 units for residents 62 and over.
Mannie Wilson Towers
West Harlem Group Assistance Inc. has received an $18.2 million Housing Development Corp. (HDC) Fannie Mae Risk Share loan for Mannie Wilson Towers, a 102-unit affordable senior community in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood.
Merchants Capital closed the debt, which has a 30-year term and a 40-year amortization period. The owner will use the loan to implement a capital improvement plan, including system upgrades throughout the building. In early 2020, Merchants arranged a $40.9 million refinancing loan for The Tapestry, a 185-unit partially affordable community in East Harlem.
The property is part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Section 202 program and is fully encumbered by a Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment contract. The one- and two-bedroom apartments cater to seniors 62 and over, earning 50 percent of AMI or less. Based on the Section 202 contract, residents have access to support activities, such as cleaning, cooking and transportation, among others.
Located at 565 Manhattan Ave., the 0.3-acre corner site near Morningside Park opened in 1892 as a privately held hospital. Sydenham Hospital was the first medical facility in the city to voluntarily hire Black physicians. Following its closing in 1980, the property reemerged later as a HUD 202 senior community.
This February, Camber Property group launched a 136-unit, fully affordable property in Central Harlem, less than a mile from Mannie Wilson Towers. The nine-story Victory Plaza offers housing for low income and formerly homeless seniors.
