Freddie Mac & Enterprise Community Partners Investment to Create 325 Affordable Housing Units in the Bronx
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2022
Press Contact:
Melanie Geller
[email protected]
212.780.0200
Starhill Phase I in Morris Heights will provide supportive services to formerly unhoused residents with substance abuse disorders
NEW YORK – [SEPTEMBER 19, 2022] – Freddie Mac and Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) announced an $80.5 million Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) investment for the construction of Starhill Phase I, a new affordable housing community in the Bronx in development by Bronx Pro Group and Services for the UnderServed (S:US). The Starhill development will include 200 apartments for formerly unhoused individuals and families where the head of household has a substance abuse disorder. Supportive services will be available for all residents. The Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI) will provide funding for rental assistance and other services, which will be provided in the on-site social service office space and community room.
The investment, made through a Freddie Mac LIHTC Equity fund with Enterprise’s Housing Credit investments business, is the largest single Housing Credit investment to date for Enterprise. Starhill Phase I will consist of a 14-story residential tower located at 1600 Grand Avenue in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx. In total, the Starhill complex will comprise two towers with roughly 570 apartments.
Supportive services will be coordinated by S:US, which has provided a variety of supportive services to New Yorkers for over 40 years. S:US develops a person-centered treatment plan for each tenant, with services including substance use counseling, recovery counseling, prevention counseling, and medical and symptom management. Starhill residents will have access to family counseling, medication management, and other workshops intended to provide family support. In addition, S:US will supplement individualized services with monthly events such as holiday parties, movie nights, and guest speakers.
“Given the lasting economic effects of the pandemic and the existing housing crisis in our city, it has never been more important that we increase the supply of safe and affordable homes,” said Baaba Halm, vice president and New York market leader at Enterprise Community Partners. “Unfortunately, far too many New Yorkers do not receive the support and resources they need to acquire, maintain, and thrive in a home. We are proud to collaborate with Freddie Mac to support our longtime partners, Bronx Pro Group and Services for the UnderServed, in bringing affordable and supportive housing to the Bronx.”
“This substantial commitment to housing in the Bronx comes as a direct result of our plan to ramp up investments through our Low-Income Housing Tax Credit equity investment platform,” said Steve Johnson, interim head of production and sales for Freddie Mac Multifamily. “Investments like these help build new supply and are critical to addressing the affordable housing crisis facing underserved communities across the United States.”
“Bronx Pro Group is proud to be a part of the next chapter and reinvention of the Starhill Campus of Morris Heights,” said Samantha Magistro, CEO of Bronx Pro Group. “Starhill Phase I honors the site’s history of medical and mental health care, while responding to the present-day community’s need for affordable housing and new open space. We look forward to building this new community together with S:US, our lenders, as well as our community stakeholders.”
“Home is more than a roof. Home is stability, safety, community, and a sense of belonging,” said Jorge R. Petit, president and CEO of Services for the UnderServed. “Starhill will bring hope, possibility, and opportunity to New Yorkers who have experienced homelessness, poverty, addiction, and mental health challenges.”
In addition to Enterprise and Freddie Mac’s equity investment, Starhill Phase I received financing through tax-exempt bonds and subsidy loans provided by the New York State Housing Finance Agency, and subsidy loans provided by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
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About Enterprise Community Partners
Enterprise is a national nonprofit that exists to make a good home possible for the millions of families without one. We support community development organizations on the ground, aggregate and invest capital for impact, advance housing policy at every level of government, and build and manage communities ourselves. Since 1982, we have invested $54 billion and created 873,000 homes across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico – all to make home and community places of pride, power and belonging. Join us at enterprisecommunity.org.
About Freddie Mac
Freddie Mac makes home possible for millions of families and individuals by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Since our creation by Congress in 1970, we’ve made housing more accessible and affordable for homebuyers and renters in communities nationwide. We are building a better housing finance system for homebuyers, renters, lenders and taxpayers. Learn more at FreddieMac.com, Twitter @FreddieMac and Freddie Mac’s blog FreddieMac.com/blog.
About Services for the UnderServed
Services for the UnderServed (S:US) drives scalable solutions to transform the lives of people with disabilities, people in poverty and people facing homelessness: solutions that contribute to righting societal imbalances. Housing is the core of what we do. S:US provides permanent housing through a mix of congregate and scatter site supportive housing. S:US currently owns and manages 65 buildings, leases and manages an additional 55 buildings plus 1,000 scattered-site apartments throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. This includes more than 1,130 units of LIHTC-funded housing under ownership and management, with another 1,800+ LIHTC units in construction and predevelopment. Learn more at sus.org.
About Bronx Pro Group
Bronx Pro Group is a women-owned, neighborhood-based firm dedicated to community development through affordable housing investments. Bronx Pro’s mission is to develop high quality affordable housing that is sustainable and builds thriving communities. The company and affiliates employ full time professionals and support staff engaged in real estate development, construction, property management, marketing and resident services. Since 1998, Bronx Pro has completed the development of over 3,000 affordable housing units along with commercial and community spaces. Bronx Pro portfolio is primarily owned by the Magistro family who is proud to build beautiful homes as well as create permanent jobs through their participation in New York City and State affordable housing programs.
Read the original press release here.