Phipps Houses lands $233M from city for Far Rockaway complex

Loan will help finance first phase of 1,700-unit project

20-02 Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway (Credit: Google Maps)
20-02 Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway (Credit: Google Maps)

Phipps Houses has landed a $233.3 million loan for its massive affordable housing complex in Far Rockaway.

The money for 20-02 Mott Avenue comes from the New York City Housing Development Corporation, and its largest pieces are two building loans for $105.8 million and $72.2 million, according to property records. It will go toward the first phase — 457 units — of Far Rockaway Village, a project that will include roughly 1,700 units overall.

HDC voted last month to provide financing to the nonprofit Phipps Houses for the project over objections from 32BJ SEIU, a union that claims Phipps has a record of undermining worker standards.  The two groups have been at odds since Phipps refused to pay into the union’s pension fund.

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The City Council voted unanimously in September to rezone a portion of Far Rockaway, a $288 million plan that they expect to bring more than 3,000 residential units to the neighborhood.

Phipps’ project is one of several in the neighborhood.  Related Companies is planning two new buildings nearby at the corner of Mott Avenue and Gateway Boulevard, and  Staten Island-based investor Vincent Ragosta bought a multifamily building with 108 units in the neighborhood at 22-11 New Haven Avenue for $22 million earlier this year.