NEW YORK CITY-In an effort to save almost 1,000 units of affordable housing, Global One Real Estate Fund, in conjunction with the New York Affordable Housing Preservation Fund, a joint venture between L+M Development Partners and Citibank, has purchased interests in th Lafayette Boynton rent-stabilized apartment complex in the Soundview section of the Bronx. The JV acquired the four-building, 972-unit property for $51.5 million from AREA Property Partners.
The deal falls closely in-line with AREA’s company strategy of repositioning distressed assets and attracting institutional investors to them, which was outlined in the November 2011 issue of Real Estate Forum. “It is natural occurrence as it relates to this plan,” James H. Simmons, partner and head of US emerging markets at AREA Property Partners, tells GlobeSt.com. “We came in and acquired the complex and invested a large amount of capital in improving the infrastructure of these buildings and providing a much higher quality of living experience.”
The transaction will continue AREA’s previous efforts to improve the buildings. With a goal of cutting energy consumption of the complex by 35%, the joint venture will continue a $14 million improvement program, primarily focused on energy conversation. Plans for the property call for new windows, lobbies, entryways, elevators, grounds and hallways.
“This product type is something we have been involved in for years,” Robert Nelson, principal of Global One, tells GlobeSt.com. “We understand how these buildings operate and we understand how to make them better,” he says, noting the company’s previous projects at Hazel Towers in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx and Atlantic Plaza in Brooklyn. “It is not really an affordable housing development. It is quality middle-income housing that has some of the best transportation qualities I’ve seen in years.”
In addition to the green programs that will be instituted, Simmons says the most important element of plan is maintaining all 972 units as affordable. “From the onset, the preservation of affordable housing was key,” he says. “We selected Global One specifically because of their long-term affordability plan and that they were going to continue the positive transformation that we have implemented over the last five years.”
Completed in 1972, Lafayette Boynton is located across Boynton Avenue from its sister development, Lafayette Morrison. Part of the Mitchell-Lama program, the site was taken over by the state’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal in the 1980s. In 2006, both complexes were purchased by AREA.
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