The Domino Sugar factory, which CPC sold to Two Trees for $185 million

Community Preservation Corporation, a struggling nonprofit lender for affordable housing, has been rejuvenated with a $250 million capital infusion from Citigroup, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The David Rockefeller-founded CPC has been involved in building or preserving over 145,000 units of housing, the majority of which are affordable rentals. It intends to use the new funds to build and renovate up to 6,000 units. CPC recently closed on its first deal under the new program, issuing a $1.59 million loan to help rehabilitate two distressed Bronx buildings, located at 539-541 East 147th Street. Property owner Workforce Housing Authority will use the loan to invest in major capital improvements including a new roof and heating system.  [more]

From left: a rendering of Hawthorne Court and the former Domino Sugar factory

European real estate firm Zeus Capital Partners has purchased a 95 percent complete distressed condominium project in Valley Steam, Long Island from Community Preservation Corporation, the owners of the former Domino Sugar refinery site on the Williamsburg waterfront, according to a statement today from Zeus.

The Athens, Greece-based firm purchased the 90-unit condo for a total of $23.5 million, and expects to be able to deliver the units in three months time, the statement said. The complex is called Hawthorne Court, and is located at 125 South Cottage Street, in Valley Stream. [more]

Domino Sugar refinery

Community Preservation Corporation, developer of the massive apartment complex planned at the former Domino Sugar refinery on the Williamsburg waterfront, has an urgent need for a development partner and injection of $50 million in capital, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The CPC began exploring a sale of its Domino Sugar Factor project last month, as it is struggling financially because it got swept up in speculative lending for large-scale condominium projects during the boom. Just last week, the Katan Group, CPC’s partner in the project, filed suit against CPC alleging breach of fiduciary duty and negligent performance, among other charges. [more]

Domino Sugar factory

The Community Preservation Corporation, which this week began exploring a sale of its Domino Sugar Factor project, is struggling financially because it got swept up in speculative lending for large-scale condominium projects during the boom, the New York Times reported.

Established in 1974 by banker David Rockerfeller to use capital raised from commercial banks to finance construction and rehabilitation of affordable multi-family rental apartments throughout the city, CPC has recently veered far off that course. [more]

From top: An early rendering of the Domino Sugar project and the current site

Less than 10 months after clearing the final hurdle for developing the 11-acre area surrounding the Domino Sugar factory in Williamsburg into 2,200 residential units, developer Community Preservation Corporation is exploring a sale of the site, the New York Observer reported. [more]

The Community Preservation Corporation has partnered with the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development and the New York City
Department of Housing Preservation and Development to provide $9.8
million for the gut renovation of two affordable housing developments
in Brooklyn. According to Robert Riggs, senior vice president and
regional director of CPC’s Brooklyn office, both of these projects are
sponsored under HUD’s 203 K program which is specifically designed to
focus on the rehabilitation and repair of residential properties that
have rents that are affor… [more]

The Community Preservation Corporation’s $1.2 billion Domino Sugar factory redevelopment project got a resounding “no” last night from Community Board 1, because of doubts about whether the group’s planned skyscrapers would benefit the neighborhood. The 23-12 vote backs another “no” vote last week by the board’s land use committee, though neither decision is more than advisory. Borough President Marty Markowitz will hold a public hearing on tomorrow before he makes a decision, which will also act as a suggestion to the City Planning Commission and ultimately, the City Council. Plans call for a 2,200-unit waterfront apartment complex, which would require the Kent Avenue site, just north of the Williamsburg Bridge, to be rezoned from manufacturing to residential. The developers have promised to create an open, public space on the waterfront and to designate 30 percent, or 660, of its units for below market-rate housing, far more than what is required by current zoning. The land-use committee last week had objected that the affordable housing in the complex would not necessarily be permanent, but the developers have since insisted that it would be. [Brooklyn Paper]

The Community Preservation Corporation’s $1.2 billion redevelopment proposal for the Domino Sugar factory in Williamsburg was shot down last night in a 5-3 vote by Community Board 1′s Land Use Committee. The vote isn’t final — the full community board will hear the proposal March 9, after which Borough President Marty Markowitz, the City Planning Commission and the City Council will all have a say — but it is the first public rejection of the project, which entered an eight-month public review process in early January. The plans call for a 2,200-unit waterfront apartment complex, which would require the Kent Avenue site, just north of the Williamsburg Bridge, to be rezoned from manufacturing to residential. The developers have promised to create an open, public space on the waterfront and to designate 30 percent, or 660, of its units for below market-rate housing, far more than what is required by current zoning. Last night’s panel objected that the developer’s affordable housing commitment, as it currently stands, is only 15 years long and that the building plans were too dense. [Brooklyn Paper]

The Community Preservation Corporation’s proposed $1.2 billion redevelopment of Williamsburg’s Domino Sugar factory has been certified by the Department of City Planning, pushing the project forward into an eight-month public review process. The project, which would create a 2,200-unit waterfront apartment complex, would require the site to be rezoned from manufacturing to residential. The project’s unusually high rate of affordable units — 30 percent, or 660, of its units will be designated for below market rate housing, while only 440 would be required by current zoning — is expected to help it through the approval process. The CPC bought the site, on Kent Avenue just north of the Williamsburg Bridge, in 2004 after Domino shut down. While some are skeptical that there will ever be enough demand for 1,600 additional luxury units in Williamsburg, others have welcomed the CPC’s promise to reserve more rental units for lower-income families than other affordable projects, including 100 units for families making just $21,000 per year and 330 for families making up to $40,000. [Brooklyn Paper]

Deutsche Bank is teaming up with non-profit Community Preservation Corporation to help fund efforts to make New York City apartment buildings more energy efficient. Through CPC’s New York Building Retrofit Program, to which Deutsche Bank has committed $15 million and CPC has committed $25 million of its $150 million to $200 million target, property owners will be able to take advantage of financial incentives and consulting services for going green, with the option to retrofit their buildings as part of a refinancing of their existing mortgage debt. “Our realistic goal is to increase fuel and electrical efficiency of existing apartment buildings by 20 percent or more, reducing a prime source of greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants in our cities,” said Michael Lappin, CPC president and CEO. “We can change the urban landscape by changing the multi-family real estate financing landscape.” In the program’s first year, refinancings and retrofittings are planned for between 1,500 and 2,500 housing units. TRD… [more]