The city has cut a $135 million deal with Tahl Propp Equities and others to renovate five affordable housing properties in Harlem and to keep more than 500 apartments affordable for the next 40 years.
National nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners and its subsidiaries have bought a stake in Tahl’s properties to help renovate the 18 buildings at five affordable housing projects, said Phil Melton, director of affordable housing at Bellwether Enterprise, a commercial banking company owned by Enterprise. The acquisition is in conjunction with an agreement with the city to keep the apartments available to low-income tenants. The city and the property owners inked a long-term Land Use Restriction Agreement that will keep the 549 apartments affordable for the next 40 years, Melton said.
As part of the developer’s deal with the city, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development is providing a $15.2 million loan, city officials announced on Thursday. Bellwether is providing $62.3 million in construction financing, and its parent company provided $35.9 million in equity through tax credits it received from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). The cost of renovating and acquiring the properties comes to roughly $135 million.
“Investing in the revitalization of our communities’ affordable housing stock is an effective way to mitigate the city’s housing crisis,” Gary Rodney, president of the city’s Housing Development Corporation, said in a statement. “Through thoughtful investments, we are preserving affordability and creating opportunities across our city for so many New Yorkers in need.”
The five properties are Tahl’s Gladys Hampton Houses, at 2411 Frederick Douglas Boulevard, 400 St. Nicholas Avenue, New West I and II at 8-56 West 111th Street and Riverside I and II at 602-622 West 135th Street. The renovations will include updating apartment interiors, roof replacements and new kitchen appliances and flooring. The apartments will remain occupied through construction and will continue to receive rental revenue from Section 8 contracts.
A representative for Tahl couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
The Harlem deal follows Mayor Bill de Blasio’s recent announcement that the city is ahead of schedule when it comes to his housing plan to preserve or build 200,000 affordable housing units over a decade. His administration, according to a report released earlier this month, has so far preserved or created nearly 53,000 affordable housing units.