Harlem Sees First Fruits of Affordable-Housing Scheme
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

A high-rise at East Harlem is the first building developed under a government program that offers financial incentives for combining market-rate apartments with low- and middle-income housing.
An alternative to the “80-20″program commonly used by developers, in which 80% of the units are rented at market rates and 20% are “affordable,” the new program includes middle-income tenants and could be a tool for building affordable housing in some areas the city is looking to rezone, such as the far West Side and downtown Brooklyn.
Local politicians are to gather this morning for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the $60 million project known as the Aspen, on First Avenue at 100th Street. The building is almost fully rented after two months of marketing units for between $1,500 a month for a studio apartment and $3,000 a month for a 1,200-square-foot two-bedroom apartment with a terrace.
The ceremony follows the announcement yesterday of the second mixed-income building to be developed under the program, at 200 Schermerhorn Ave., in downtown Brooklyn. The building is blocks from where developer Bruce Ratner hopes to build his $2 billion Atlantic Yards development, which would include office, retail, and residential space, as well as an arena for the Nets of the National Basketball Association.
“This is an important program, in part because it could help create more affordable housing in areas the city is looking to rezone, like the West Side and downtown Brooklyn,” said the head of the lobbying group the Real Estate Board of New York, Steven Spinola.
The government program is run by a state public-benefit corporation, the Housing Development Corporation, which creates financing for affordable housing in the city. Under the program, developers are given access to tax-exempt bonds and low-interest mortgages in return for building rental developments that are 50% market-rate, 30% middle-income, and 20% reserved for low-income tenants.
The program allows developers to hedge some risk building in neighborhoods where the real-estate market is still shaky. Rather than having to rent the entire building, developers are responsible for renting only half the units, while receiving incentives and subsidies for the remaining units, Mr. Spinola said.
“The program won’t work where there is an established market, because then developers would rather just rent market-rate or build condominiums,” Mr. Spinola said.
“In good borderline neighborhoods, like Brooklyn, parts of Harlem, maybe even downtown Manhattan, this is a great tool for creating an affordable and market-rate housing,” said a principal of L &M Equity Participants, Ron Moelis. Mr. Moelis and the managing principal of BFC Partners, Donald Capoccia, built the Aspen. Roughly 80% of the market-rate units and nearly all of the subsidized units have been rented, he told The New York Sun.
In the far West Side of Manhattan, the program is seen in real-estate circles as a potential vehicle to preserve some affordable housing in the neighborhood if the sweeping redevelopment envisioned by the Bloomberg administration comes to pass.
The mixed-income building in Brooklyn, to be developed by State Renaissance LLC, will be eight stories high and have 158 apartments, a 72-car parking garage, a 24-hour concierge service, a doorman, and a fitness center.
The Aspen has chrome fixtures and bamboo plank floors, a lobby finished in limestone and mahogany, 24-hour concierge service, a gym, and a garage with building access. Other amenities include shuttle service to the Lexington Avenue subway and high-speed Internet connections. Susan Zabatta of the Corcoran Group has the exclusive listing.
Under the mixed-income housing program, at least 20% of the units must be reserved for low-income households earning up to 60% of the area median income, or $37,600 for a family of four, and about 30% of the units must be set aside for middle-income families earning up to 200% of area median income, or $125,000 for a family of four.
In addition to tax-exempt bonds, the Housing Development Corporation provides subsidies of $30,000 to $45,000 a unit for the low- and middle-income units, up to a maximum of between $5 million and $7.5 million for each project.