L+M Venture Scores Debt on Resilient Housing in Far Rockaway

L+M Development landed fresh capital for one of the city’s most ambitious coastal housing plays in Queens.

A joint venture led by the developer landed $278 million in construction financing to build the first residential phase of Arverne East, a master-planned development poised to reshape a large stretch of Far Rockaway with affordable housing, Commercial Observer reported.

The deal funds Building D, a 320-unit project at 116 Beach 36th Street that kicks off a megaproject due to deliver 1,650 affordable apartments across 116 acres.

The sponsorship group goes well beyond L+M. Partners include Urbane Development, the Bluestone Organization, Mega Group Development and Triangle Equities Development.

Goldman Sachs Alternatives’ Urban Investment Group is the anchor lender, alongside a roster of public agencies that underscores the project’s political heft.

The capital stack includes the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development and Housing Development Corporation, New York State Homes and Community Renewal, plus funding from the City Council and Queens Borough President’s office.

Building D will deliver 230 affordable rental units and 90 homes slated for private ownership. The mix reflects a broader push to blend rental housing with paths to ownership in neighborhoods where prices have long shut residents out.

Construction is expected to wrap in 2028.

Arverne East has been in the works for years, born out of post-Sandy planning to rethink development along the Rockaways’ flood-prone coastline. The project leans heavily on climate-resilient design, featuring buildings elevated above flood levels and packed with mitigation measures.

Plans for Building D include roof-mounted solar panels paired with ground-source heat pumps, bioswale gardens to manage stormwater and flood-proofed ground floors.

Far Rockaway was among the areas hardest hit by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and later, by flooding tied to Hurricane Ida. Those disasters pushed city officials and developers to pursue projects that could withstand increasingly volatile weather while still adding housing supply.

The financing follows an earlier milestone for Arverne East. In mid-2023, developers completed a 35-acre nature preserve and a Coastal Conservation Center on the site, bringing a community center and Parks Department space to the area.

Future phases are slated to add more housing, retail, a community facility and even a boutique hotel.

— Holden Walter-Warner