BRP agrees to build below-market housing at formerly deed-restricted Harlem site

The city has cut a deal with BRP Companies that will bring 38 low- to moderate-income apartments to Harlem.

The Dance Theater of Harlem paid $875,000 to lift a deed restriction at 841 St. Nicholas Avenue that required the space to be used as a nonprofit cultural organization, Politico reported. BRP [TRDataCustom] has agreed to build 30 apartments at 60 percent of the area median income, seven units at 40 percent of AMI, and one at 50 percent AMI.

BRP purchased the 32,470-square-foot building earlier this year for $3.1 million.  The project will be financed by the city, the Community Preservation Corporation and nearly $1.4 million in federal low-income housing tax credits.

City officials touted the deal on Tuesday, along with nine other projects that were also awarded tax credits. The key, though, for the city is that it lifted a deed restriction and secured below-market-rate housing in return — a better result than what happened with the Rivington House. In that case, the city lifted a deed restriction on the Lower East Side nursing home, paving the way for a luxury condo developer, Slate Property Group, to buy the property.

In October 2015, the city tapped BRP to build 166 affordable housing units above a renovated Caton Market in Flatbush. [Politico] — Kathryn Brenzel

Correction: Due to an error in the original report, an earlier version of this article misstated who paid the city to have the deed restriction lifted. It was Dance Theater of Harlem.