Kingsbridge apartments will give homeless families a home

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Construction began this week on a new 13-story affordable housing tower on the south side of Kingsbridge — but it’s a project that almost collapsed late in the game thanks to the new resident at a different home on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Kingsbridge Heights Apartments is rising from 2700 Jerome Ave., across from the Kingsbridge Armory. Its 136 units will provide options not only for low- and middle-income residents, but 40 of those units have been set aside for homeless families.

“That’s the big distinction,” said Alan Bell, a developer with B&B Urban, who’s constructing the complex. “We’re serving whole families, not individuals. These are families where, say, the head of household had a problem, and now they are our focus.”

The reported $70.5 million price tag for Kingsbridge Heights includes more than $35 million in tax-exempt bonds from the state Housing Finance Agency, and an additional $26 million in subsidies from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Raymond James Financial, a Florida-based wealth management company, is funding the rest of the project, stepping in for what normally would have been a lender taking advantage of the tax credit market. That market, Bell said, is a mess.

“Since Trump was elected, there’s been sort of a chaos in the tax credit market nationwide,” he said. “The buyers of these credits are banks, and they just don’t know what their tax rate is going to be. It’s caused chaos in affordable housing, but fortunately for us, Raymond James stepped in.”

Construction costs also will be higher because of nearby elevated tracks, which restricts the use of cranes in surrounding properties. Instead, Bell will utilize a cast-in-place concrete technique, where walls are constructed using concrete and molds.

The 95 units not reserved for homeless families will be made available to those families who currently make between $51,800 and $75,000 annually. It’s expected to welcome its first residents in Summer 2019.

Architect Michael Gelfand, who grew up in the Kingsbridge area, designed Kingsbridge Heights, Bell said. He attended school just across the street from where his new apartment building is planned, and has since moved to Riverdale.

B&B Urban, which partners Bell with Elisa Barnes, formed in 2012, and has three other projects either finished or underway in the Bronx. A 115-unit building was recently completed at 3349 Webster Ave. in Norwood, while two others — a 126-unit building in Fleetwood Concourse Village, and another for homeless veterans and transitioning youth in the West Bronx.

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