Neighborhood Pillars Acquisition

Organization Name: Settlement Housing Fund

Project Title: Neighborhood Pillars Acquisition

Project Location: Mt. Eden, Bronx

Project Description:
Settlement Housing became the first nonprofit affordable housing developer to acquire a residential building utilizing the Down Payment Assistance Fund of New York City’s newly formed Neighborhood Pillars Program. This effort run by the City’s Department of Housing and Preservation (HPD) provides low-interest loans and tax exemptions to nonprofit and for-profit developers to purchase privately-owed rent stabilized and unregulated property and to maintain affordability. Settlement Housing purchased a Bronx property at 1415-1417 Wythe Place with plans to undertake renovations and maintain affordable rents for 58 apartments, as well as a super’s unit and commercial space. Planned renovations include upgrades to the building’s electrical systems, a new roof, boiler and repairs to the floors and facade. Community Preservation Corporation (CPC) originated a New York City Acquisition Fund loan to finance the project’s acquisition and pre-development costs.

Community Impact:
The acquisition is Settlement Housing Fund’s 19th building in the Mt. Eden section of the Bronx, where its New Settlement Apartments now has over 1,100 units and space for a host of programs and services, as well as the New Settlement Community Campus. This community is especially vulnerable to real estate speculation as it straddles a good stretch of the Jerome Avenue Rezoning, from 165th Street to 184th Street, which is expected to generate roughly 4,600 new units of housing, according to the City. With the passage this year of new rent regulation laws, there is also the risk of disinvestment in the rent regulated stock. The acquisition of 1415-17 Wythe Place will guarantee that the units in the building remain affordable to the types of tenants who are renting there now. Settlement Housing Fund will ensure that vacant units are rented to low- and moderate-income New Yorkers who will not pay more than 30% of their income towards rent. Furthermore, transferring ownership to a mission-driven non-profit means that 1415-17 Wythe Place will be responsibly owned and managed for the long-term.

Organization Description:
Settlement Housing Fund has worked since 1969 to create more than 8,700 apartments within affordable rental and homeownership development projects throughout New York City, and presently owns and maintains 31 buildings with 1,784 units in the Southwest Bronx, Crown Heights Brooklyn, the Two Bridges section of the Lower East Side and in Upper Manhattan. We have several new construction and preservation projects underway, and provide HDFC and marketing lease-up services to other affordable housing developers, as well as programming in our neighborhoods.

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