Gotham, Monadnock Nab $315M Loan For East New York Project

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The developers of a massive East New York affordable housing community scored a construction loan for the next phase of their development.

Gotham Organization, Monadnock Development and nonprofit Christian Cultural Center scored a $315 million loan for their project at 12020 Flatlands Avenue. The loan will fund the construction of 453 rental units at the site, which used to be a vacant parking lot at the church’s 10-and-a-half-acre Brooklyn campus.

Syndicator Red Stone Equity Partners raised about $151 million in low-income housing tax credit and brownfield credit equity financing provided by JP Morgan Chase, according to a press release. The city Housing Development Corporation and Department of Housing Preservation and Development provided $260 million, including up to $144 million in construction tax-exempt bonds and $116 million of long-term below-market-rate debt.

The financing will go toward the second phase of the larger Innovative Urban Village, one of the largest affordable housing developments in the neighborhood in recent memory. When complete, the planned community will include 1,975 affordable housing units, a performing arts center, a grocery store, local retail and open park space. The second phase also includes 12,000 square feet of community space, 10,000 square feet of retail space and 102 parking spaces.

Last year, the developers nabbed a $270 million construction loan for phase 1b of the project, which included 386 affordable units for families earning 30 to 80 percent of the area median Income. That phase is expected to be completed by 2027.

East New York went through a controversial rezoning in 2016. Supporters said it would produce a spate of development and lift up what had long been the borough’s poorest area. But not much of the new housing, offices and retail predicted for East New York, Ocean Hill and Cypress Hills has materialized.