City approves $232 million for construction and rehab.

The New York City Housing Development Corporation recently approved $232 million in bond financing for the construction or preservation of 552 apartments in four buildings in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx.

The Corporation approved the use of $7.97 million in tax exempt bonds to finance the rehabilitation of two 70-year-old, six-story apartment buildings containing 83 apartments at Grand and Tremont Avenues in Morris Heights in the Bronx. The two buildings, 1971 and 1975 Grand Avenue, will be purchased by a company controlled by Mill Plain Properties, Inc., and Omni New York, LLC, a development corporation whose principals are Mo Vaughn, the former New York Met, and Eugene Schneur. This team has previously worked with the Housing Development Corp. to rehabilitate four developments for low-income families in New York City--most recently Grace Towers, two buildings containing 168 apartments at Pennsylvania and Pitkin Avenues in East New York, Brooklyn. "It's very important for me to give back to New York City," Mr. Vaughn said. "By financing affordable housing, we are helping make a lot of people's lives easier and more secure."

Two blocks south of Grace Towers, a seven-story mixed use building will be built with $14 million in financing that the Corporation approved this week. The building, to rise on a largely vacant lot at 626 Sutter Avenue will contain 103 apartments reserved for low-income families, 19,700 square feet of retail space and 68 parking spaces. In March, construction began on six apartment buildings on Malta Street and Alabama Avenue, seven blocks to the south.

Also this week, the Corporation approved $210 million in Liberty Bonds to finance the conversion of 20 Exchange Place, a 56-story downtown skyscraper, from offices to 366 apartments.