Stellar Management and the NYC Housing Development Corporation Save 320 Units of Affordable Housing in Crown Heights Brooklyn
--Deal Includes $15 million in improvements set to begin at Tivoli Towers--
New York, NY – November 2, 2010:
In an effort to restore and maintain one of Brooklyn’s largest housing developments as affordable, Stellar Management in cooperation with the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and Mitchell-Lama supervisory agency, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), announced today that it has purchased Tivoli Towers located on Crown Street in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. The purchase and refinancing of the property along with the use of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) enhanced Section 8 voucher program will enable the complex to remain affordable and stay in the Mitchell-Lama housing program for a minimum of 30 more years.
Stellar Management will immediately begin a two-year restoration effort to the 33-story, 320-unit property, which has not been renovated since the 1970’s. Interior improvements will include new elevators, upgrades to kitchens, bathrooms, and common areas. The new owner will also repair roofing, existing parking garages, and facades.
The project is being undertaken as part of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s New Housing Marketplace Plan (NHMP), an $8.4 billion initiative to finance 165,000 units of affordable housing for half a million New Yorkers by 2014. To date, the plan has funded the creation or preservation of nearly 108,600 units of affordable housing across the five boroughs.
HDC President Marc Jahr said: “We are pleased that this transaction is complete and that the stringent regulatory agreements are now in place that assure that needed repairs will be made in order that the tenants’ homes will be restored to good, secure and safe conditions. Moreover, thanks to a lot of hard work on both sides, Tivoli Towers is guaranteed to remain affordable and in the Mitchell-Lama program for at least another 30 years.”
“The real winners here are the residents who will see their homes remain in the Mitchell-Lama program for decades to come, while at the same time receiving much needed building improvements allowing them to live in a safe, well-managed property,” said Ryan Jackson, Vice President of Stellar Management.
Like many buildings its age, Tivoli was in need of substantial immediate and long-term capital repairs. The proposed refinancing includes the acquisition, debt restructuring, substantial rehabilitation and long-term preservation of affordability at Tivoli Towers. HDC has agreed to issue approximately $39.5 million in recycled tax-exempt bonds. At the time of the real estate closing, HDC will provide financing in the total amount of approximately $43.7 million. Under the agreement, rents will be allowed to rise. However, as a result of refinancing the federally aided mortgage, residents have been and are able to apply for Section 8 enhanced vouchers that mitigate rent increases through Federal rental assistance.
Nearly 70 percent of existing tenants at the property have already been pre-approved for the vouchers and the application deadline has been extended for the remaining tenants. For those tenants with incomes too high to be eligible for the program, Stellar Management has voluntarily set up a Landlord Assistance Program (LAP), which will provide rental assistance.
Tivoli Towers was built in 1975, formerly owned by Donald Lentnek, and sits on Crown Street in Brooklyn along the east side of Prospect Park. The concrete structure is made up of 320 units of affordable apartments ranging from studios to three bedrooms.
About Stellar Management
For over 25 years Stellar Management has acquired and improved properties across the country. Founded by Laurence Gluck, Stellar has built its track record on ownership, management, and revitalization of rental housing in metropolitan areas on the East Coast of the United States. Stellar Management is an owner-manager of more than 20,000 apartment homes and two million square feet of office space in New York City, Metro Washington D.C., San Francisco and South Florida. Stellar Management employs approximately 800 people, and has offices and management teams based in New York, Metro DC and San Francisco. Stellar’s principals are Laurence Gluck, Paula Katz and Robert A. Rosania.
About the NYC Housing Development Corporation (HDC):
The Housing Development Corporation (HDC) provides a variety of financing programs for the creation and preservation of multi-family affordable housing throughout the five boroughs of New York City Housing Authority City. In partnership with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, HDC works to implement Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s New Housing Marketplace Plan to finance the creation or preservation of 165,000 affordable housing units by the end of the 2014 fiscal year. Since the plan launched in 2004, HDC financed nearly 47,521 homes for low- , moderate- and middle-income New Yorkers. The New York City Housing Authority City Housing Development Corporation is rated AA by S&P and Aa2 by Moody’s.
About the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD):
HPD is the nation’s largest municipal housing preservation and development agency. Its mission is to promote quality housing and viable neighborhoods for New Yorkers through education, outreach, loan and development programs and enforcement of housing quality standards. It is responsible for implementing Mayor Bloomberg’s New Housing Marketplace Plan to finance the construction or preservation of 165,000 units of affordable housing by 2014. Since the plan’s inception, more than 100,000 affordable homes have been created or preserved. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/hpd.
###
Media Contact:
Representing HDC
Catie Marshall
212-863-8076
Cmarshall@nychdc.com
Representing Stellar Management
John Marino
The Marino Organization
212-889-0808
john@themarino.org
