Omni New York, the affordable housing management company led by former New York Mets player Mo Vaughn, has just bought two more low-income housing complexes, according to Crain’s. The two Bedford-Stuyvesant housing centers, the Dr. Betty Shabazz complex and the Medgar Evers Houses, contain a total of approximately 470 units. Omni plans to launch a $10 million renovation effort there, which is slated to be complete by the end of 2011. The company successfully bid on 14 troubled South Bronx buildings at the end of 2009 and made its first purchase in Manhattan — a $5.5 million affordable housing building at 2059-71 Madison Avenue in Harlem — in January this year.

Crain’s has released its latest list of New York City power players, the top “40 Under 40,” and it comes as no surprise that real estate moguls are sprinkled throughout. Among those of note are Seth Pinsky, president of the city’s Economic Development Corp., who barely made the list at 39 years old, and Alexandra Prosser, 29, a managing director at eEmerge, an office leasing division of commercial real estate giant SL Green Realty. Pinsky, of the EDC, had a hand in some of the city’s most talked about projects of the decade, including the World Trade Center, Atlantic Yards and the new Yankees and Mets stadiums. Also included was Scott Weiner, Apollo Global Real Estate’s 36-year-old principal. After joining the asset manager last year, he started Apollo Commercial Real Estate and recently took the company public. Eugene Schneur, 37, the Omni New York co-founder and managing director, made the list as well. Schneur and his company buy and rehabilitate affordable housing units across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut using low-income tax credits and tax-exempt bond financing. Omni recently made headlines when it bought the mortgage on a distressed 14-building complex in the South Bronx. [Crain's]

The effort to increase affordable housing in the city is remaining in high gear despite recurring budget cuts elsewhere. By the end of the year, the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, led by Commissioner Rafael Cestero, is on track to complete its 100,000th unit of either rehabilitated or new public housing. The agency’s goal is 165,000 affordable apartments by 2014 and is also helping to refinance overleveraged affordable properties. The Dec. 2 sale of 14 South Bronx Buildings to Omni New York, headed by former Mets first baseman Mo Vaughn, is one example of how the city’s involvement has been met with success. Omni replaced Ocelot Capital Group, which had abandoned the buildings and defaulted on the mortgage, and the city, which had already overseen $1.3 million in repairs there, had worked with the $29 million loan holder Fannie Mae to arrange the sale. The city has allotted $750 million to similarly aid overleveraged properties in the future, which in turn will save 20,000 to 30,000 affordable units. [Crain's]

Omni New York, a real estate development company headed by former New York Mets first baseman Maurice “Mo” Vaughn, is the successful bidder of 14 troubled South Bronx buildings owned by Ocelot Capital Group, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, other politicians as well as Fannie Mae announced today. The mortgage debt on the dilapidated Ocelot buildings, which totals $23.8 million, was also purchased for a reduced price by Omni from Fannie Mae and Deutsche Bank through the bidding process. Omni plans to invest up to $1 million in emergency repairs and hopes to become the long-term owner of each property. “This is a big step in the right direction that puts these properties on the path to finding responsible ownership. Omni brings a track record of success and has worked with the city on some of our most challenging and distressed properties,” said Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Rafael Cestero. TRD