Yonkers housing authority has announced
the latest funding package for the city’s new $296 million masterplan to turn Cottage
Place Gardens in to a modern, mixed-income community.
178 Warburton at The Ridgeway is the fifth
phase of the six-phase master plan to redevelop the distressed Cottage Place public
housing complex built in 1945.
The Ridgeway is being developed by the Municipal
Housing Authority for the City of Yonkers (MHACY) and The Community Builders
(TCB) and will replace three outdated public housing buildings (Cottage Place
Gardens Building #4, 8, and 12) and a disused gas station with a new, energy
efficient residential building. The project also includes the remediation of a
brownfield.
It will have 500 units of housing, parking
spaces, a central open space as well as mixed-use development in three of the
six project phases.
To date, 242 units across three phases
have been completed, as well as the substantial renovation of an existing
daycare center. Another 166 units of housing are currently under construction
at 172 Warburton and 178 Warburton.
Financing for 178 Warburton at The
Ridgeway includes $10,432 from for predevelopment to permanent financing; TCB
contributed over $700,000 in predevelopment financing; Community Capital New
York provided a $800,000 predevelopment loan. The City of Yonkers has committed
to provide $500,000 in City HOME funds and $500,000 in Community Development
Block Grant funding.
Other financing sources include NYS
Housing Finance Agency tax exempt bond financing and subsidy, Federal Low
Income Housing Tax Credits, State Low Income Housing Tax Credits, NYS
Brownfield Tax Credits, $5 million from Westchester County Housing
Implementation Fund and $250,000 of a $2.5 million Empire State Development
Restore NY grant that was secured to finance multiple phases of the
redevelopment.
The total development cost for the entire
multi-phase project is estimated to be $296 million. New York State Homes and
Community Renewal is the primary source of financing for the effort, having
already committed several million dollars in Low Income Housing Tax Credits
(LIHTC), hard debt, and gap financing toward the total development cost of $183
million for Phases I, II, III and IV.
The new eight-story building at178 Warburton,
which is under construction, will feature a unit mix of six studio units, 35
one-bedrooms, and 40 two-bedrooms. The building will include a common laundry
room, on-site management, and a rooftop resident center. Parking is free of
charge. The units are
affordable to families with a mix of incomes, ranging from 30% to 90% of Area
Median Income (AMI).
The
mixed-use building will also include a new Early Head Start day care center
serving infants and toddlers from families with lower incomes. The center will be
operated by Westchester Community Opportunity Program, Inc. (WestCOP), a
private, not-for-profit, multipurpose social service organization, who will
also operate the Head Start pre-kindergarten center at 172 Warburton Avenue,
the fourth phase of the redevelopment also presently under construction.
The project also includes a 33,000 s/f central open space to be constructed to the east of the building.
“This new
phase of Cottage Garden’s redevelopment points to the positive momentum
happening right now in Yonkers as we revitalize our neighborhoods and improve
the lives of the residents who live here,” said Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano. “We
are building a stronger, a more sustainable community for residents, thanks to
the support of our federal, state, private and local community partners and
their commitment to Yonkers. I look forward to the great improvements that will
be made to this very deserving neighborhood.”
“We are
thrilled to begin construction on this project to transform an obsolete public
housing site into a neighborhood of choice for people with a mix of incomes,” said Sue McCann, regional senior vice
president for real estate development for The Community Builders. “We continue
building a beautiful community for our current and future residents in
Southwest Yonkers.”
