Yonkers IDA Moving Forward with $52.4M Affordable Housing Complex Project
Posted November 29, 2011
We Recommend...
The Board of Yonkers Industrial Development Agency (IDA) has approved a resolution to move forward with a project that will transform the long-abandoned PS 6 school building and surrounding brownfield at 33 Ashburton Avenue into an affordable housing complex with two modern, environmentally-friendly, buildings. The complex will provide 50 units of senior housing and 70 units of family low-income housing units.
A rendering of the project is available as a SCRIBD document below.
The complex will include a mid-rise senior building with 50 one-bedroom apartments and parking for 25 vehicles. The family building will be a high-rise with 33 one-, 29 two- and 8 three- bedroom units with parking for 66 vehicles. Both buildings will share an additional five ground level parking spaces.
The initiative is being spearheaded by The Community Builders, Inc. (TCB) in partnership with the Municipal Housing Authority of the City of Yonkers.
The new PS 6 housing complex is estimated to cost approximately $52.4 million. The new buildings will be within walking distance to public transportation - including the Yonkers Metro North station - and feature views of the Palisades and the Hudson River.
The new complex will have LEED certified "green" buildings with partial green roofs over the parking area at ground level and above the fifth floor. Community rooms and a shared computer lab and on-site laundry facility are also part of the project. Although the existing building will be torn down, the main entry arch to PS 6 will be preserved as a façade feature to the computer lab.
The senior housing facility and 43 of the family units will be leased to households earning no more than 60% of the area median gross income. The remaining 27 family units will be restricted to those making no more than 30% of the area median gross income. If finally approved, the project would create approximately 350 construction jobs for the two year duration of the project.
The PS 6 site has been designated a brownfield by the state. A remediation plan that meets state health and safety requirements and careful engineering controls will therefore be part of the site's preparation for construction and building demolition activity.
Inducements from the IDA could include sales and use tax exemption for materials and equipment used in construction, a mortgage recording tax exemption, and a structured property tax agreement. The project could also involve the issuance of tax-exempt bonds by the Yonkers Economic Development Corporation. Other financing includes $1 million in City of Yonkers HOME funds as well as other federal, state and local assistance.
After the public hearing, the project must come back to the Yonkers IDA Board for final approval.
blog comments powered by