State insures $38M mortgage for Bushwick rental conversion

Troutman Gardens, a 144-unit Bushwick development at 114-136 Troutman Street, has gone rental, and is getting $37.5 million in state support for its decision. Mayer Schwartz’s five-story building was originally intended to have condos, but that plan went sour along with the economy. Today, the State of New York Mortgage Agency agreed to insure the building’s $37.5 million mortgage in support of its rental conversion, which will enable its lenders to sell the mortgage to New York City employee pension funds and invest in new housing.

Construction on Troutman Gardens was completed in October, with leasing beginning later that month. It is currently 63 percent leased. Units at the building will be rent-stabilized due to a 421(a) tax exemption.

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“Our action today is part of a larger effort by our agency to preserve neighborhoods whose stability could be undermined by condominium buildings that have been built but are no longer marketable,” said Judd Levy, chair of the new york mortgage agency. “Turning these multi-family projects into rental housing stabilizes communities and provides much-needed housing for middle-class families.”

Today’s commitment by the agency was one of eight mortgage insurance commitments worth a total of $44.3 million for low- and moderate-income rental projects in the state. Four of those projects — Troutman Gardens, Central Harlem’s Cathedral Parkway Towers at 424 Cathedral Parkway and 125 West 109th Street; West Harlem’s 3603-3605 Broadway; and 269 Burnside Avenue in the Bronx — are located in New York City. TRD