NEW YORK CITY-TF Cornerstone and Selfhelp have been tapped to build the second phase of the city's massive Hunter's Point South development. Located in Long Island City, Queens, the site—referred to as parcel C—will be developed into two high-rise buildings with a total of 1,193 new apartments. Of the total, 796 apartments will be affordable, with 100 of those units reserved for low-income senior citizens. The remainder of the apartments will be market-rate. Phase two also will feature a fitness facility, rooftop gardens and decks, children's playroom, an on-site senior recreational center and other amenities.

"We are excited to be working with TF Cornerstone and Selfhelp to build this next phase of the largest affordable housing development undertaken since the 1970s," says NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas. "From our most vulnerable populations to those in our middle-class, the challenges of finding an affordable home and the cost of living with rent burden are experiences that many New Yorkers share. This second phase of Hunter's Point South will create nearly 800 affordable apartments, in a mixed-income community, new space for local arts and community groups, and new opportunity for economic growth. But most important, it will be a place where our senior citizens will have rents they can afford and supportive services, and where hardworking moderate- and middle-income New York families can put down roots and grow with this vibrant and flourishing neighborhood."

The multiphase Hunter's Point South development is the largest affordable housing project in the Bloomberg Administration's New Housing Marketplace Plan and the largest in New York City in more than three-and-a-half decades. Launched in 2003, the NHMP is a multi-billion dollar initiative to finance 165,000 units of affordable housing by the close of the 2014 fiscal year. For every dollar invested by the city for affordable housing, the NHMP has leveraged $3.48 in additional funding. The total investment equals more than $23.6 billion. To date, the plan has funded the creation or preservation of more than 156,769 units of affordable housing across the five boroughs.

Adds K. Thomas Elghanayan, chairman and co-founder, TF Cornerstone, "When TF Cornerstone broke ground on our LIC Waterfront project more than ten years ago, we envisioned the creation of a multi-faceted, family-friendly community with diverse retail options, top-of-the-line schools and expansive park space. Today's designation by HPD enables us to continue our pursuit of these goals while creating greatly needed affordable housing."

Notes Jeremy Shell, SVP of acquisitions and finance, TF Cornerstone, "We firmly believe that for New York City to thrive and prosper, quality housing needs to be developed for all segments of our City's population. This project is an excellent example of how the public and private sectors can work together to create greatly needed housing for our City's moderate and middle income families."

TF Cornerstone has been extensively involved in the development of Long Island City.

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Rayna Katz

Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.