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| VOLUME 1: FALL ISSUE 2011 | ||
NPCR Project Highlights
Seniors Celebrate: Turning the Abandoned Erbograph Building into Affordable Apartments The soon-to-be-completed Erbograph Apartments, located at 203-209 West 146th Street, in Harlem, sit on a quarter acre property that was an abandoned eyesore for five decades. Formerly the location of the Erbograph Building, which housed several film production companies, this property is located in Bradhurst, one of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in Central Harlem. The nonprofit Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement (HCCI), a consortium of 92 houses of worship devoted to the holistic revitalization of Harlem, in partnership with Jonathon Rose Companies redeveloped the former brownfield site into a new eight-story green building with 64 units for seniors earning 50% of the area-median income. Erbograph Apartments is also one of the first HUD 202 mixed-finance senior housing developments in the country designed to achieve LEED Silver certification. The building will be completed in October 2011. HCCI has identified and approved 64 residents and is awaiting receipt of the temporary certificate of occupancy to allow them to move in. During the pre-development phase, NPCR provided technical and financial assistance to HCCI to address the brownfield conditions at the property. The site had been the subject of a limited US EPA site assessment, which indicated that prior operations had contaminated the site, and HCCI needed help determining how to manage the environmental conditions inside and outside of the building. NPCR reviewed the data, inspected the property and recommended that HCCI conduct some additional investigation at the site to assess the extent of asbestos, lead and soil contamination. NPCR facilitated the hiring of an environmental consultant to assess the building conditions and develop cost estimates for remediation and provided oversight of the consultant during their work. Testing revealed that remediation of the soils and the building's interiors would be needed, adding approximately $1 million to the cost of redevelopment. Unfortunately, the site was deemed ineligible for the New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program and the as-of-right brownfield tax credits that go along with BCP admittance. So, ultimately, the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) provided a repayable seed loan to fund the required work on the building. With the financing finally in place, remedial activities on the Erbograph property were completed in August 2009. Demolition took place in November 2009 and the groundbreaking for the Erbograph Apartments occurred on June 1, 2010. With the completion of the apartment complex this month, the project will have restored an abandoned industrial brownfield site to community use. And the apartments will provide green housing, including a planted green roof and terrace, natural lighting and solar shading, for 64 senior residents and a total of 26 permanent jobs for the neighborhood. |
