BFC to create fund for affordable housing from Bedford Armory condo sales

542k sf building to house 330 apartments, including 177 low-income units

From left: Bedford Union Armory, Bill de Blasio and Donald Capoccia
From left: Bedford Union Armory, Bill de Blasio and Donald Capoccia

BFC Partners, the developer behind the controversial Bedford-Union Armory redevelopment, is pledging to put a portion of money from condo sales into a new affordable housing fund.

BFC [TRDataCustom] said it would direct at least $500,000 from the sale of 56 condos into a fund that will be managed by Local Development Corporation of Crown Heights, a local nonprofit that develops low-income housing. LDCCH will also partner with BFC in selecting contractors and soliciting feedback from the community.

Money from the condo sales fund will go to other affordable housing projects in Crown Heights.

“The trust fund money will end up going back into the development of low-income housing,” Caple Spence, LDCCH’s executive director, told DNAinfo.

The condos are to be built on the site of horse stables that are slated for demolition.

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The armory project calls for converting the 542,000-square-foot former military building into 330 affordable and market-rate rentals, along with community space. There will be 177 low- and moderate-income units.

Critics, however, think those plans should be replaced with 100 percent affordable housing. New York City councilwoman Laurie Cumbo, who is critical of the project, said BFC’s partnership with LDCCH was a “step in the right direction.”

A public scoping meeting, where members of the community will comment on the project, is set for March 7. The project ultimately needs to go through the ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure) process.

BFC initially partnered with Slate Property Group on the project. But after the scandal surrounding Rivington House – a former nursing home that Slate eventually bought and is turning into condos – the city pressured Slate off the armory project. [DNAinfo] — E.B. Solomont