Affordable housing project to revive stalled Brooklyn condo site

The site of a stalled Prospect-Lefferts Garden condominium is set to become a city-subsidized middle-income housing project in the first deal to close since the city launched its Housing Asset Renewal Program in 2009, according to the New York Times. The $20 million program, intended to simultaneously jumpstart stalled construction sites and fill a need for affordable housing, has been slow to catch on as developers attempted to wait out a rebound in the housing market. But facing foreclosure at the 382 Lefferts Avenue site where it had once planned a 26-unit condo building, developer Tali Realty applied for the city program last year (the extended deadline was July 2010). Lender Community Preservation Corporation agreed to refinance the loan, and the city allocated a $2.9 million subsidy, or $64,463 for each of the 46 rental apartments now slated for the site. Construction is now slated for completion in 2013, and units will be open to renters who make no more than $55,000 per year as individuals, or $79,200 for a family of four, Crain’s reported. Rafael Cestero, head of the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development said the agency has already approved four additional projects totaling 220 units that will participate in the program once their financing closes, and is reviewing four more. [NYT] and [Crain’s]