City Strikes Deal To Preserve 95 Affordable Inwood Apartments
by: Brendan Krisel
in: Washington Heights—Patch
An affordable housing developer and the city will preserve the current Section 8 housing as part of a 40-year tax abatement.
INWOOD, NY (August 15, 2018)—The city has struck a deal with housing developer LIHC Investment Group to preserve nearly 100 below-market units in an Inwood apartment building.
The project-based Section 8 housing apartments are located the Inwood Houses on Post Avenue between Dyckman and Academy streets, city officials said. Ninety-five units in the building will be preserved as part of the deal in an effort to combat the rapid conversion of units to market rate in the neighborhood, officials said.
The deal between the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the New York City Housing Development Corporation and LIHC will result in a 40-year tax abatement for the developer, officials said.
“This deal will preserve existing affordable housing in neighborhoods where it is under the greatest threat,” LIHC Investment principal Andrew Gendron said in a statement.
In total, the deal will preserve 669 units in five buildings. The buildings outside Inwood are located in gentrifying — or already gentrified — neighborhoods such as Willamsburg, Harlem and the East Village. The agreement is possible part of the city’s Article XI incentive, which gives property owners tax exemptions of up to 40 years for developments where are at least two-thirds of the units are offered at below-market rates.
The project-based Section 8 housing units will be eligible for families earning at least 80 percent of the Area Median Income, which is an annual combined income of $75,120 for a family of three. Units at 80 percent of the Area Median Income rent at monthly rates of $1,197 for a studio, $1,509 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,820 for a two-bedroom apartment, according to the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
In addition to preserving apartments at below-market levels, LIHC has also pledged to invest in the Inwood Houses. The developer will put money toward capital improvements such as improvements to apartments and the building’s common areas.
The deal was struck as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York plan, which aims to create or preserve 300,000 affordable housing units between 2014 and 2026.
“Preserving the existing affordable housing stock that so many hard-working families depend on is a key pillar of the Mayor’s Housing New York plan,” HPD Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer said in a statement.
“Now, more than 650 households across the city can rest assured that, despite rising costs, they can afford to remain in their homes for years to come.”
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