Rehab Starts on New York Affordable Senior Housing
MDG Design + Construction teamed up with Smith & Henzy Advisory Group on the $35.8 million project.
Kingsley House
MDG Design + Construction and Smith & Henzy Advisory Group Inc., in partnership with New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), have started the rehabilitation of Kingsley House, a 164-unit affordable housing community for seniors in White Plains, N.Y. Concord Management and Newman Design, together with Nixon Peabody LLP as borrower counsel, also teamed up on the $35.8 million project. The redevelopment, which will also preserve the property’s affordability for the next 50 years, is slated for a 2023 completion, a HCR representative told Multi-Housing News.
Project financing includes a mix of tax-exempt bonds, low-income housing tax credits and a subsidy from HCR in the form of 53 project-based Section 8 vouchers. According to Yardi Matrix information, the New York State Housing Finance Agency provided the owner with a financing package totaling roughly $21 million in January.
A Mitchell-Lama property
Kingsley House came online in 1968 under the New York State Mitchell-Lama program. Located at 41 Barker Ave., the community caters to seniors earning up to 50 percent of the area’s median income. The 12-story building houses studio, one- and two-bedroom floorplans averaging 530 square feet, according to Yardi Matrix data. Common-area amenities include a library, community room with kitchen area, laundry room and outdoor patio, as well as an adjacent, multi-level parking garage.
The property is 15 miles north of The Bronx near downtown White Plains, just west of U.S. Road Broadway and Interstate 287. White Plains Hospital and New York-Presbyterian Health Center are both less than 2 miles south.
Renovations underway
All apartments will receive various kitchen and bathroom improvements, as well as Energy Star-rated appliances and high-efficiency heating and cooling systems. In addition, new energy efficient windows and balcony doors will be installed as developers intend to bring the building to green standard requirements.
Common areas will also be upgraded; improvements will feature new finishes in the library and community room, updated LED lighting, security cameras and elevator modernization, among others. Additionally, the building will receive a new roof and a wheelchair-accessible entryway. Current residents will not be relocated during the revamping process, the HCR representative confirmed for MHN.
Lucrative partnerships
This is not the first time MDG Design + Construction partners with Smith & Henzy Advisory Group. In August, the firms completed the $52.7 million redevelopment of a 138-unit affordable senior housing community in The Bronx, N.Y.
MDG also teamed up with Smith & Henzy for the construction of a 160-unit affordable housing project in Brooklyn, N.Y., as part of the first phase of Governor Cuomo’s Vital Brooklyn initiative. The development received $72.1 million in financing in July.
In June 2019, MDG and joint venture partner Wavecrest Management completed the $560 million redevelopment of a public housing community in Queens, N.Y. The 24-building, 1,395-unit property was the subject of the country’s largest single-site conversion under the RAD program.
