City OKs first recycled bonds for developments.

As the New York City Housing Development Corporation Board of Directors welcomed NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Rafael E. Cestero as the new HDC Board Chairman, it approved the nation's first "recycled" bonds for affordable housing projects in the Bronx and Staten Island.

The Board also approved $72 million in tax-exempt Multi-family Housing Revenue Bonds, of which $58 million are recycled bonds, for other eligible projects expected to close in the second half of 2009.

The recycled bonds were issued in accordance with the Federal Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) which allows for the refunding of tax-exempt multifamily housing bonds and using the refunding proceeds to finance new development activity without having to use new private activity bond cap.

Under the law, housing agencies such as HDC have six months to make a loan from recycled bonds. Over the course of the next several years, HDC anticipates benefitting from as much as $600 million in recycled bond capacity.

St Ann's Terrace, located in the Melrose section of the Bronx, will be built in two phases on a site owned by the developer, Jackson Development Group.

The first phase consists of six newly constructed buildings containing a total of 480 units. Of these, 340 will be available to low-income families. Another 122 will be set aside for families earning from 80% to 100% AMI ($61,440--$76,800/yr for a family of four.)

The HDC Board authorized a total of $79 million in tax-exempt bonds to provide construction and permanent financing. Three of the buildings will use $27 million in recycled tax-exempt bonds and the other three buildings will use $52 million in Private Activity Bond Volume Cap. In addition to the residential portion, the development is expected to contain approximately 50,000 s/f of ground floor retail space and underground parking. The second phase envisions two additional buildings with about 140 residential units, both rental and ownership, and 224 parking spaces.

In Staten Island, the Board approved $13.5 million in Private Activity Bond Volume Cap and $6.5 million in recycled bonds for the construction of senior citizen housing on Broad Street in Stapleton.

The project, to be built in collaboration with the NYC Housing Authority on land that they own, is proposed as an eight-story elevator building containing 105-unit low-income rental homes for seniors with incomes no higher than 60% AMI. The project is expected to include 33 parking spaces. The developers are BFC, in partnership with not-for-profit Housing Partnership Development Corporation.

The directors approved $14 million in tax-exempt bonds to construct 2264 Morris Avenue, an 11-story newly constructed rental building and community space. The developer is Atlantic Development.