preservation supportive housing
Lafayette Estates
Starting in 2000 HSI began working with the Tenant’s Association at this 1,865 unit Mitchell Lama complex in the Bronx to prepare for an eventual affordable coop conversion. In 2006 the coop plan was filed with the New York State Attorney General’s Office and in 2007 it was approved.
The goal of the Homeownership Initiative was to preserve the affordability of New York City housing “aging out” of the Mitchell Lama Program, with the ultimate objective of making current low-to-middle income tenants first-time homeowners. To meet this objective HSI provided technical assistance to Mitchell Lama residents, owners, and government agencies to plan and carry out the conversion process from start to finish. Apollo Real Estate Advisors purchased the buildings for $100 million, committed to then turning the apartments into reasonably priced co-opts. In 2012, hundreds of low and middle income renters now own their homes for the very first time.
Investing in the next generation of supportive housing by restoring the first
In 2008, HSI launched the rehabilitation construction of 190 units of housing, with tenants in place, in two of the original supportive housing facilities to have served NYC's homeless and other special need populations at the Narragansett and Cecil.
Back in the ’80s and ’90s, HSI's original rehabilitations of the buildings transformed neglected properties into community resources for people living on the fringes due to lack of decent, affordable housing. This new work, completed in 2012, ensures both buildings will continue to be vibrant community partners with neighbors as well as permanent home to those in need today and tomorrow with: new ceilings and roofs, upgraded fire safety and sprinkler systems, electrical wiring, boilers, intercoms, hot water heaters, additional community and programmatic space, CCTV security systems, facade work and more.
The City’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development re-affirmed its commitment to the most vulnerable and at risk populations by funding these recent renovations, showing their commitment to not only new units but maintaining the current stock of quality supportive housing in New York for the next generation.