East Harlem Affordable Homes Bring Green Tech, Social Services

(Bloomberg) -- When East Harlem's newest affordable housing community opens, its tenants will range from the formerly homeless to those earning as much as 90% of the area's median income, helping to ease the concerns of locals about gentrification.

Developers closed Thursday on $223 million in financing, including construction loans, grants from city agencies, a letter of credit from Bank of America and federal low-income and solar tax credits. The project -- called Sendero Verde, or “green path” -- will have energy-efficient technology, public gardens and access to onsite social services and even a school.

The upper Manhattan development comes in the midst of an affordable housing crisis in the city. Yet in low-income neighborhoods like East Harlem, residents are wary about being priced out by new development. When the city rezoned the area to allow greater densities and taller buildings, those worries were amplified.

It's “a great model, and the fact that it's the first out of the box after one of the most contentious rezonings in the city in a community fearful of gentrification is important,” said Ron Moelis, the chief executive officer of L+M Development Partners, which is building the complex with Jonathan Rose Cos. and Acacia Network Housing.

Construction Starting

Construction for phase one should begin within the next few weeks and finish by 2022. By then, it will include 361 units of housing. Of that, 30% will be reserved for extremely low-income households, including 10% for the formerly homeless, who will pay close to zero to start. Remaining units will be available to households earning 60%, 80%, and 90% of the area median. A lottery will determine who gets to live there, with East Harlem residents having an advantage. By the end of phase two, it will have more than 700 units.

East Harlem Gentrification Boosted by Rezoning, Tax Breaks

Sendero Verde, at 110th Street and 111th Street and Madison Avenue, would be the country's largest development to meet Passive House standards, reducing energy consumption with better insulation and air circulation. While that will drive up construction costs by 5 to 10%, it could reduce energy consumption by as much as 70%, according to Jonathan Rose.

“One of the hopes of this project is to prove that the operational savings are real,” said Spencer Orkus, managing director at L+M. “Right now, the banks are not willing to underwrite the full savings because it hasn't been proven out.”

Once the savings have been demonstrated, future projects could earn bigger tax credits and use the extra cash to build more affordable housing.

“Sendero Verde is on the cutting edge of affordable housing development and embodies the type of forward-thinking, community-centric projects we're pushing,” Matthew Creegan, a spokesman for the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, said in an email. Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration has promised to create 300,000 affordable homes by 2026, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sydney Price in New York at sprice86@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Debarati Roy at droy5@bloomberg.net, Rob Urban, Christine Maurus

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