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New HIT Investment in Affordable Housing for New York City
1/8/2010
The AFL-CIO Housing Investment trust (HIT) is working with the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to help finance a new affordable housing development in Central Harlem. Known as The Dempsey, the residential building will offer 79 units affordable to families earning between 40% and 60% of the area median income (AMI). There will also be one unit for a resident superintendent.
The HIT purchased $15 million of fixed-rate, tax-exempt bonds issued by the HDC under the Low-Income Affordable Marketplace Program (LAMP) to help finance the $23.4 million project. The LAMP program was introduced by the HDC as a tool to finance new construction of low-income multifamily housing for individuals and families earning up to 60% of the AMI.
In structuring the financing for the project, the HIT has worked closely with the project’s developer Phipps Houses and Phipps president and CEO Adam Weinstein. The Dempsey is the second Phipps Houses project that the HIT has helped finance in New York City, the first being the 84-unit Daly Avenue Apartments in the South Bronx. Phipps Houses is one of the nation's largest not-for-profit developers, owners and managers of affordable housing. Monadnock Construction is the General Contractor for The Dempsey.
“Despite the softening of the real estate market, New Yorkers still face incredibly high rents,” said Carol Nixon, HIT’s Director, New York City Office. “The HIT is pleased to invest in projects like The Dempsey, where we can make a difference in the lives of New York families who need a safe and decent place to live.”
Work on The Dempsey is scheduled to begin in early 2010 and is expected to generate an estimated 135 union construction jobs.
The Dempsey is the HIT’s latest project under its New York City Community Investment Initiative, through which the HIT has invested over $385 million in New York City since January 2002. These investments have helped build or preserve over 16,000 units of affordable and workforce housing.
