By Nate Berg | FAST COMPANY
August 20, 2024
As cities around the world look for ways to convert empty office buildings into much-needed housing, one conversion project in New York City has a much different starting point. Liberty Landing is a 146-unit 100% affordable housing project that will be built from the bones of a former women’s prison.
Located in the now-posh Chelsea district of Manhattan between the Hudson River and the High Line, the Bayview Correctional Facility operated from 1971 until its closure and abandonment after being damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. But it wasn’t just a prison. When the Art Deco building originally opened in 1931, it was a YMCA rooming house for seamen on shore leave. “This was back in the days when there were sailors and merchant marines and Manhattan was surrounded by wharves and there were tall ships everywhere,” says Karen Hu of Camber Property Group, the developer behind the conversion project. A narrow nine-story building with tiny dorm-like rooms lining a narrow hallway, the building provided affordable and temporary accommodations at a time when Chelsea was a much different kind of neighborhood. Read the full article here.
By Isabelle Durso | COMMERCIAL OBSERVER
January 8, 2024
Camber Property Group has closed on a massive deal to take over a large multifamily complex in East New York, Brooklyn, that tenants have said was in a state of disrepair, Commercial Observer has learned.
Camber has purchased the 11-building, 1,527-unit Linden Plaza apartment complex from Linden Plaza Preservation, an entity managed by RY Management, for nearly $1 billion, the developer said. The deal closed just before the new year.
“This was a historic transaction and one of the largest multifamily transactions,” Rick Gropper, founding principal at Camber, told CO. “This transaction allows all of the stakeholders in a public-private partnership to make real improvements to benefit the residents’ quality of life.”
The project has a total development cost of approximately $845 million, funded through financing from J.P. Morgan Chase, Merchants Capital, the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC), the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and Freddie Mac loans, the firm said.
No brokers were involved in the deal. Spokespeople for HPD, HDC, J.P. Morgan, Merchants Capital and RY Management did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Located at 675 Lincoln Avenue southwest of Robert E. Venable Park, Linden Plaza was built in 1971 over a nine-block railyard using development rights from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, according to Gropper.
But residents of the apartment complex reported dangerous living conditions in recent years, saying their apartments had mold, caving-in ceilings and leaky pipes. Despite repeated complaints, residents told News 12 that repairs were never made.
Camber is now planning to complete $400 million worth of improvements at the building, including new kitchens, bathrooms, common areas and HVAC upgrades.
Housing Opportunities Unlimited will assist residents looking for temporary relocation as their apartments are renovated, Camber said.
Camber and its partners also plan to bring “critical social services” to the property to support tenants, including mental health counseling, job training and financial literacy assistance, according to the developer.
“This [project] will allow us to provide critical services to the residents, as well as restore amenity spaces that they haven’t been able to use in many years and create a place they’re proud to call home,” Gropper said.
TRADED
December 20, 2024
Camber Property Group has teamed up with RiseBoro Community Partnership to develop 1601 DeKalb Avenue, a $75 million affordable housing project in Bushwick. The project will feature 127 new housing units and aims to address the growing demand for affordable housing in the area.
The topping out ceremony for the building took place on December 10, 2024. The development had to go through an extensive rezoning process, which was completed in 2018. This allowed the previously manufacturing-zoned lot to be designated for residential use. The rezoning effort involved collaboration with local officials, community stakeholders, and Brooklyn Community Board #4. The development team closed on the project in December 2023 and is targeting a Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) by January 2026.
1601 DeKalb Avenue will offer a variety of apartment types to accommodate different family sizes: 33 studios, 52 one-bedroom units, 24 two-bedroom units, and 18 three-bedroom units. The project includes 45 units funded by the NYC 15/15 program, which provides rental assistance and social services for young families. Rent affordability will range from 40% to 100% of the Area Median Income (AMI), with 50% of the units designated as permanently affordable.
The development will provide several on-site amenities, including property management and social services offices, 24/7 security, and laundry facilities. The marketing of affordable units will begin through the Housing Connect portal in mid-2025, with a 50% Community Board preference, and set-asides for mobility-impaired and vision/hearing-impaired individuals.
1601 DeKalb Avenue will be one of the most environmentally-friendly buildings in New York City. It will meet the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria, focusing on energy efficiency, reduced carbon emissions, and community health. The building will feature high-efficiency electric heating and cooling systems, ample bike storage, community rooms, and an open landscaped courtyard.
The building is conveniently located near public transportation, with easy access to the DeKalb Avenue stop on the L subway line and several bus routes. It is also within walking distance of Maria Hernandez Park and Grover Cleveland Playground, offering residents additional recreational options.
With this project, Camber Property Group continues to expand its affordable housing footprint in Brooklyn, where it currently owns nearly 1,000 affordable units in neighborhoods such as Prospect Park South and East New York.
By The Editors | COMMERCIAL OBSERVER’S OWNERS MAGAZINE
December 10, 2024
Rick Gropper
Principal and co-founder at Camber Property Group
Are you going to buy in `25? If so, what asset class?
Camber remains bullish on the acquisition of existing affordable housing as well as land to build affordable, supportive and transitional housing. There is such an acute need for this type of housing as market rent climbs and the effects of inflation are felt on residents’ wallets. Camber has several deals currently in contract that will close in `25 in the permanent housing and transitional spaces.
Is there a single “good” sign you see in a distressed property that makes you want to buy it?
Desire to make a change. We see a lot of distressed opportunities and have a track record of successfully turning around some highly physically and financially distressed assets. This requires a lot of hands-on blocking and tackling with significant financial risk to the incoming developer. We won’t get involved in something unless we have good partners — including on the sell side of the transaction — who are all working toward the same goal. Basis helps, also.
What real estate or tax policy would you like to see from a Trump administration?
From an income tax perspective, we would like to see bonus depreciation reinstated, as it will phase down to 0 percent in 2027. This deduction is beneficial to us as direct owners of real estate, but even more so in our efforts to bring investors into the space. Low-Income Housing Tax Credit investors and conventional equity investors alike can use passive loss deductions to boost their returns on an after-tax basis and fund more capital into deals as a result. Permanent bonus depreciation is certainly something Trump can get behind — it’s from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
Another tax-driven item would be exempting affordable housing from the volume cap for private activity bonds. This is a super nerdy thing, but would double affordable housing production in New York City over the next decade and greatly increase it nationwide.
If you could stack the new administration with people you know and do business with, who would you choose?
I would make Walter McNeil HUD secretary. He’s the longtime president of the Edenwald Houses tenants association and one of the best people I know. Walter lives in the 2,000-unit former New York City Housing Authority complex that we recapitalized, and are in the process renovating. He has an amazing perspective and temperament. Walter spent two and a half years fighting for our country in the Vietnam War. He then came back and landed a job at the U.S. Postal Service, where he worked until retirement.
Which market (outside of NYC) do you like best? Which market (including NYC) are you most fearful of?
As we grow nationally, it becomes more and more clear how difficult it is to do business here as a developer and owner. The level of regulation in New York City has become almost untenable between new local laws passed every day and collection issues. I don’t want to sound super-negative because New York City is our home base. There are things that we need to collectively do more efficiently to encourage investment here.
Outside of the city, Camber is working in a bunch of states now, and our experience in Ohio has been very encouraging.
What’s going to be your biggest expense in 2025?
Camber’s biggest expense is also its greatest asset: our team. For our operating assets, the biggest expense across the board is insurance. So many insurance carriers have dropped the New York City affordable housing market that the cost of insurance has doubled or even tripled over the past five years.
What are your predictions for the mayor’s City of Yes?
City of Yes is going to pass. The principles are sound and the pros at the Department of City Planning and City Hall are going to help get this across the finish line. I’m sure there will be modifications, but, even so, it will be a huge win for the city. Projections show it will increase housing production by 30 percent over a 15-year period.
Lightning Round
Social media of choice?
I waste a lot of time on Instagram. Follow my dog @batesthesilverfox.
AI: Helpful in CRE or a fad?
Helpful.
Last movie you saw in a theater?
“Straight Outta Compton.” That was 10 years ago.
You’re going on a six-month expedition into the Amazon. What’s your last meal before you get on the plane?
Pizza from Roberta’s.
Tesla or BMW?
Neither.
Will interest rates be below or above 4 percent on July 1, 2025?
Above, sadly.
If you could partner with one person in the business on a property, who would it be?
Ron Moelis. Don’t tell him. His head is big enough.
What are you tired of talking about?
Interest rates.
By Kathryn Brenzel | THE REAL DEAL
November 23, 2024
One developer sees immediate benefit for Bronx affordable housing project
Mayor Eric Adams let his deputies take the lead on drumming up excitement for his legacy-making housing policy.
But after its approval Thursday evening, Adams stopped to talk to reporters at City Hall, and reminded them of the narrative that overshadowed the negotiations.
“People constantly stated, ‘Oh, Eric, you’re distracted … You’re distracted, you’re distracted.’ I think this is going to be a real part of a legacy and history that, no matter what they throw at us, we’re going to land the plane,” he said.
He was alluding to concerns that federal corruption charges against him would weaken the effort to pass the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity.
Sporting a hat that said “yes to housing opportunities” and flanked by First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, he repeatedly referred to the text amendment as the “the most historical housing reform in the history of the city.”
The City Council, however, had chipped away at the City of Yes, making changes that will reduce how much housing it will create by 20,000 homes.
The modifications preserved parking minimums for new housing construction in much of the city, barred backyard accessory dwelling units in certain low-density areas, added affordability requirements to transit-oriented and “town center” projects and deepened affordability requirements for a new density bonus program.
But the administration, pro-housing groups and some developers took the win. Torres-Springer emphasized that the modifications did not eliminate any “major components,” and City Planning Director Dan Garodnick called the changes “thoughtful.”
Adams noted that the amendments to City of Yes were responsive to concerns raised by community members.
“We knew at the start of this that we needed to be willing to hear both sides,” he said when asked about the changes to the proposal. “I never go into negotiations expecting to walk away with everything I want.”
The changes were accompanied by a $5 billion commitment from the city for housing and infrastructure, with $1 billion of that money coming from the state.
AnneMarie Gray, of Yimby group Open New York, views the approval as a critical acknowledgement of the need to address the city’s housing shortage by making it easier to build. She said in a statement that if the full Council approves the text amendment, as is expected next month, it will be the “clearest sign yet that our leadership is capable of taking on big challenges.”
Build, baby, build
For the developers, the passage of City of Yes, even a diluted version, is a victory.
Real Estate Board of New York President Jim Whelan called it a “good day in the effort to produce much needed mixed-income rental housing.”
Developers support the removal of parking mandates because it enables them to add more housing, which brings in more revenue than parking spots.
The City of Yes will leave most of Manhattan free of parking minimums and the northernmost parts of the borough with lower parking requirements for projects. They were also removed in the western parts of Brooklyn and Queens. In the rest of the city, the requirements were either reduced or left intact (much of Queens and Staten Island kept parking minimums).
Rick Gropper, founding principal of Camber Property Group, called the result a “huge benefit” for the city. It will have an immediate impact on his firm’s affordable housing projects: The scaled-back parking restrictions in parts of the Bronx significantly reduce how many spots his firm has to build at a large-scale development it is planning.
“Each space can add between $75,000 and $150,000 in cost to the job. It also adds complications, and affects the building design,” he said, noting that City of Yes will allow his firm to “do more with the same resources.”
Council member Kevin Riley, a Northeast Bronx resident who chairs the zoning subcommittee, defended the preservation of some parking mandates. He said planning should not be “theoretical or wishful thinking,” but reflect the “actual built environment” of neighborhoods.
“New York City is a very large city, and some areas of the city are not well serviced by public transportation. Is this fair? No. Should the residents in this badly serviced area be penalized further? No,” he said before the subcommittee’s vote. “I live in one of these areas. You need a car to get groceries, grab coffee or go to the doctor, bring your kids to the park. Our modifications reflect this reality, our constituents’ reality.”
The Universal Affordability Preference, which provides a 20 percent density bonus on projects that devote the extra space to affordable housing, was already seen as less developer-friendly than the program it is replacing, Voluntary Inclusionary Housing. UAP requires deeper affordability (units affordable for households earning, on average, 60 percent of the area median income) and provides less of a density bonus per square foot of affordable housing.
The Council changed that so when the density bonus is 10,000 square feet or more, at least 20 percent of the affordable units must be set aside for families earning 40 percent of the area median income. The change makes the program less appealing to developers.
The Council also added affordability requirements to “town center” and transit-oriented projects with 50 or more units, mandating 20 percent of units be set aside for those earning 80 percent of the AMI. The affordability rules could make projects financially infeasible for some developers, said Dan Marks, CEO of Brooklyn-based commercial brokerage TerraCRG.
“The proposal that they initially had would have had a much bigger impact than the proposal that is ultimately going to be passed,” he said. “My hope is that they didn’t take out so much that the impact is not going to be that great.”
Not cutting it
The administration estimates that the changes to City of Yes could add 80,000 housing units over the next 15 years, instead of the 109,000 originally projected beyond the usual production.
Some saw the modifications as an acquiescence to suburban opponents that came at too great a cost.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso criticized the exclusion of single-family, “contextual” zoning districts from the legalization of backyard accessory dwelling units. Transit-oriented development, which allows apartment buildings of three to five stories, was barred from areas zoned for single-family homes and duplexes.
“[City of Yes] was never a panacea for our city’s housing crisis,” Reynoso said in a statement. “But it was at least a modest opportunity to begin addressing the discriminatory zoning practices that force low-income, Black and Brown neighborhoods to do all of the work of building new housing while low-density neighborhoods get away with contributing nothing.”
Sara Lind, co-executive director of Open Plans, a group that advocates for ending parking mandates, called the outcome an “incremental victory.”
“We’re disappointed that it has once again proven so difficult for our leaders to stand boldly against car dominance, even as some Council members bemoan their districts’ lack of safe streets and transit options,” she said in a statement.
Staten Island Council member David Carr proposed a motion to reject the text amendment ahead of the zoning subcommittee’s vote.
“No to a process that solicited communities and community boards for their comments and feedback, only for it to be mostly ignored,” he said. “No to a process that tells hardworking residents what their neighborhoods should look like.”
The motion failed, but garnered support from Staten Island Council member Kamillah Hanks.
The final vote is slated for Dec. 5, and the text amendment’s on-the-ground impact will take time. Marks said the City of Yes completes a trifecta for the real estate industry this year, after passage of multifamily project tax break 485x and interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
“Those three things have shown people that New York City is open for business,” he said.
He noted that the mayor’s legal troubles raised concern that City of Yes would not advance, but its progress shows a recognition that “without bold policy changes, you are going to continue to have this housing crisis.”
“[Thursday] sort of proved that the need is bigger than any political trading that needs to happen here,” he said. Read the full article here.
By Amanda Schiavo | COMMERCIAL OBSERVER
November 8, 2024
The commercial real estate industry says the requirements will lead to slimmed-down projects at a time when the city needs lots of new housing
“Affordable housing.” It’s almost an oxymoron when it comes to living in New York City.
Rents are rising — New York City’s median rent price is almost double the national average — and much faster than wages, making this is a real issue for city residents, with many struggling to keep a roof over their head. About 350,000 people are without homes on any given night in New York City, according to data from the Coalition for the Homeless. The city’s apartment vacancy rate reached a “historic low” of 1.4 percent this year and, coupled with the lack of affordable housing, spurred the realization that legislative action was needed to combat the housing crisis.
So, after several failed attempts, state lawmakers passed a real estate tax abatement program earlier this year called Real Property Tax Law Section 485x that could make at least some of the city’s housing stock more affordable.
The new section offers partial property tax exemptions for new rental buildings. The tax exemptions last 35 years for projects with at least 100 units and 40 years for those with 150 units provided that 20 to 25 percent of those units are designated as affordable housing. For developments of at least 150 units, the developer also doesn’t have to pay land taxes during construction.
“Having a tax abatement will foster the production of housing,” Sean Kelly, partner at Ariel Property Advisors, said. “New York City has historically had a perpetual shortage of housing, both free market and affordable housing. So with 485x you will produce both free market and affordable housing.”
Some experts in the commercial real estate space say having 485x on the books is better than the void that was left when the previous program — 421a — expired in June 2022.
Construction of new housing units in the city dropped following 421a’s expiration, with new housing construction falling by 5 percent annually in the third quarter of 2024, according to data from the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY). In 2023, REBNY found that developers proposed only 9,909 residential units, compared to 45,593 proposed units for all of 2022.
However, there is concern that one detail setting 485x apart from 421a could be just the thing that hinders future project development: wage requirements.
Approved in April, 485x comes with stricter wage requirements than 421a for construction workers. Developments with at least 100 units are required to offer a minimum wage of $40 per hour, which will increase by 2.5 percent annually, according to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), which released the proposed rules for the program last month. (They have yet to be finalized.) Sites with at least 150 units will require a minimum construction worker wage that is the lesser of $72.45 per hour, or 65 percent of the greatest prevailing rate of wages and supplements within a classification.
Under 421a, developers were required to pay construction workers an average hourly wage of $60 in Manhattan, and $45 per hour in Brooklyn or Queens for projects with 300 units or more, according to law firm Holland & Knight.
“The [wage] guidelines that 485x comes with make it financially infeasible for a lot of projects to move forward,” Rick Gropper, co-founder of Camber Property Group, said. “Anything 100 units or greater will have a wage requirement that really adds cost onto an already strapped project. The additional expense that 485x places on the project by setting a wage floor of $40 makes a lot of projects infeasible, and that’s why you’re seeing some developers splitting buildings into two.”
Such subdivision could become the new norm if the wage requirements of 485x prove too costly for those developing larger properties, since projects below 100 units — or what is known as middle-market developments — have no prevailing wage requirements, said Kelly.
“There’s always been a deep buyer pull for the middle-market size projects,” Kelly said. “What is happening now, based on 485x is … the developer is going to subdivide, reapportion the larger site, and create smaller sites in order to build multiple buildings with less than 100 units to avoid those wage requirements.”
REBNY is also critical of the wage requirements that come along with 425x. In testimony given at an HPD hearing for the rules, REBNY noted that it is a “challenging program” due to “significantly higher labor costs” and that “the proposed rules make challenging math even harder by imposing the 3 percent reduction per [area median income] band.”
As developers try to figure out if the wage requirements for larger projects are feasible, others might opt to utilize the extended time frame of the old 421a regulations instead, which now allow projects to be completed by 2031 rather than the original deadline of 2026.
“What I’m hearing is that people are still trying to figure out if the construction wages are workable,” Patrick Sullivan, a real estate lawyer with Kramer Levin, said. “I haven’t actually seen any projects moving forward under the new law, except for smaller projects. That’s not to say there will not be [larger projects], but one of the things the legislature did in the spring is they allowed for an extended period to use the old 421a. So I’m sure developers will use it.”
While the wage requirements will almost certainly cause developers to re-evaluate how they’ll design their projects, it isn’t the only initiative taken on by the city that is on their minds. Zoning changes will also play a part in future projects.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty because of the ‘City of Yes’ zoning changes,” Sullivan said. “There are these city zoning changes that are probably going to be adopted by the end of the year.”
City of Yes is Mayor Eric Adams’s ambitious plan to modernize the city’s 1960s-era zoning laws in an effort to create more housing, as well as other initiatives. A component of the City of Yes involves relaxing some zoning rules to make it easier for developers to convert office buildings into residential housing.
City of Yes has already passed through the Department of City Planning and is now in the hands of the City Council, which already released “City For All,” a counter-plan that calls for boosting voucher programs and putting more funding in public transportation.
“Those proposals would significantly change the residential zoning laws within New York City, in ways that relate to 485x,” Daniel Bernstein, a real estate lawyer with Rosenberg & Estis, said.
City of Yes could impact projects under 485x by allowing additional residential floor area, Bernstein said. It also could encourage the construction of apartments priced to be affordable for renters earning 60 percent of the area median income, he said.
Additionally, City of Yes eliminates or reduces parking requirements, which Bernstein said his clients feel is a huge waste of time and money because nobody uses them much in a city where only about 45 percent of residents own a car and the sinews of public transit stretch far and wide. City of Yes would also change the minimum size of residential units, creating more density.
“A number of my clients who are looking at building construction and 485x projects are also kind of in a holding pattern while the City of Yes zoning amendments are considered by the City Council,” Bernstein said. “When that is resolved, they’ll be able to make business decisions about what to build on sites they own, or whether to buy additional sites.”
While 485x has been heralded by its creators as part of the answer to New York City’s housing problem, that doesn’t mean there aren’t critics. Advocacy groups argue that the program’s affordability benchmarks do little to help low-income New Yorkers.
“Rental properties are really over-taxed, and they’re over-taxed so that wealthy homeowners are under-taxed,” said Cea Weaver, coalition director for Housing Justice for All, a statewide coalition of over 80 grassroots groups representing tenants and homeless New Yorkers. “It is just one of the many, many public policies that prioritizes owners over renters, and 485x is an attempt to correct for that by giving property owners a tax exemption to build housing that is for renters.”
Weaver called 485x a “Band-Aid” for a broken property tax system and something that isn’t going to get at the root causes of the housing crisis since it won’t result in housing that is actually affordable.
“The real term that [we] would want to use is ‘income targeted,’” she said. “Those units are targeted to people who make a certain amount of money, and the person who lives in them is going to be paying a maximum of 30 percent of their income in rent. So that’s what people mean when they say affordable.”
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development created the definition of affordable in the 1980s, Weaver said. At the time, the agency said it would be expected that people pay 30 percent of their income in all federally subsidized programs. But a lot has changed since the 1980s and Weaver says that definition doesn’t cut it anymore.
“The cost of groceries has gone up, the cost of health care has gone up, wages have been basically stagnant,” she said. “So it’s actually no longer a very useful number, and I personally think it really needs to be revisited.”
With 485x still in its infancy, the commercial real estate space appears to be taking a wait-and-see approach as it weighs the potential impacts of the wage requirements and the looming City of Yes vote on future projects. Residents will also have to do the same to find out if 485x does anything to move the needle on housing affordability. (There were record high rents under 421a, after all.)
“[485x] is never going to make everybody happy,” Kelly said. “But it’s always a step in the right direction to add supply to the market and reduce the rent burden on consumers.” Read the full article here.
By The Editors | COMMERCIAL OBSERVER
October 27, 2024
It’s a living One thing you might have noticed about a lot of the aforementioned deals: They were multifamily, which is still a pretty underserved asset class in a lot of metro areas.
Despite the fact that New York Mayor Eric Adams is under indictment for alleged bribery and much of his administration is reeling, his City of Yes zoning proposals are still broadly popular.
The City of Yes “should be best understood as a housing supply strategy rather than a housing affordability strategy,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.
Even political rivals like City Comptroller Brad Lander are advocating for City of Yes. “The proposals would also help us catch up with cities across the country that are working to end exclusionary zoning and further fair housing goals, correcting for dozens of rezonings over the past 20 years that limited new development in neighborhoods with strong access to public services,” Lander said in a statement. “In particular, allowing new development in transit-rich neighborhoods will help increase New Yorkers’ economic mobility and access to opportunity.”
One has begun to see a lot of transactions and multifamily deals brewing, particularly in the Bronx — some 33 sites sold there in the first half of 2024 for $166.4 million. (Which is a 50 percent jump over the first six months of the previous year.)
“The Bronx has great underlying fundamentals,” said Karen Hu of Camber Property Group, which is working on a $1 billion project in the borough, “including transportation, culture, food and entertainment and open space, so it’s no surprise that development has taken off in the borough.”
Think about that when the Bronx Bombers return to their hometown tomorrow night! Read the full article here.
By Michael Young and Matt Pruznick | NEW YORK YIMBY
October 15, 2024
Construction is progressing on 1601 Dekalb Avenue, a nine-story, two-building residential complex in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Designed by Aufgang Architects and developed by Camber Property Group and RiseBoro Community Partnership, the $75 million project will yield 127 affordable housing units in studio to three-bedroom layouts, with 45 reserved for stable housing and supportive services for young families. Urban Atelier Group is the general contractor for the property, which is situated on an interior lot between Wyckoff and Irving Avenues with frontage on both Dekalb Avenue and Hart Street.
Recent photographs show the western building’s reinforced concrete superstructure built to its pinnacle along Hart Street, with CMU blocks framing the openings for the window grid. Façade installation has yet to begin. The eastern structure is further behind, standing only three stories above Dekalb Avenue, but could potentially top out before the end of the year. Read the full article here.
By Michael Young and Matt Pruznick | NEW YORK YIMBY
OCTOBER 14, 2024
Construction has topped out on 114 Snediker Avenue, a four-story women’s shelter in East New York, Brooklyn. Designed by Curtis + Ginsburg and developed by Camber Property Group and Urban Atelier Group, the 60,000-square-foot, all-electric structure will yield 60 dormitory-style units accommodating 200 beds, as well a cellar level and a 60-vehicle surface-level parking lot. The property is bound by Glenmore Avenue to the south, Snediker Avenue to the east, and Van Sinderen Avenue to the west.
Recent photographs show the reinforced concrete superstructure built to its pinnacle and crews in the process of completing the parapet with CMU blocks. Metal frame studs, yellow insulation boards, and additional CMU blocks are gradually enclosing all four sides of the building above the sidewalk shed and wooden fencing. YIMBY expects façade installation to begin sometime near the start of winter. Read the full article here.
By Paul Frangipane and Ethan Marshall | BRONX TIMES
September 16, 2024
The Bronx-based multi-service agency R.A.I.N. held a gala celebrating its 60th anniversary at Marina Del Rey in the Bronx on Thursday, Sept. 12.
The main mission of the organization is to enhance the well-being and quality of life for those of all ages in need of help by meeting their interim needs. The agency offers a myriad of services, focusing on a continuum of care that includes a range of services for seniors and people with disabilities.
In addition to having full-service neighborhood senior centers at 12 locations in the Bronx and another one in Manhattan, R.A.I.N. also offers home-delivered meals to homebound elderly, transportation services, assistance with benefits and entitlements, case management and elder abuse services and Cucina Dolores, a community-based mobile meals program for homeless and hungry people in the South Bronx, in collaboration with the Bob and Dolores Hope Foundation.
One the organization’s notable commitments to the elderly is sponsoring two residential housing projects providing apartments for low-income seniors. Additionally, its affiliated Home Health Care Program provides in-home attendant and personal care services for elderly, disabled and homebound individuals of all ages.
During the gala, multiple dignitaries were honored for their service and contributions to R.A.I.N. Among the honorees were New York City Department for the Aging Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez, Camber Property Group Principal Rick Gropper, KZA Realty Group President Kathy Zamechansky and retired nurse and R.A.I.N. Board Member Catherine Alicia Georges. Read the full article here.
By Vanessa Londono| NEW YORK YIMBY
August 3, 2024
The affordable housing lottery has launched for 18-26 Redfern Avenue, an eight-story mixed-use building in Far Rockaway, Queens. Developed by Camber Property Group and designed by Urban Architectural Initiatives, the structure yields 59 residences. Available on NYC Housing Connect are 58 units for residents at 60 percent of the area median income (AMI), ranging in eligible income from $48,309 to $100,620.
Amenities include bike storage lockers, shared laundry room, elevator, and a community center. Residences come with hardwood floors, energy-efficient appliances, and name-brand kitchen appliances, countertops, and finishes. All utilities are included.
At 60 percent of the AMI, there are 37 studios with a monthly rent of $1,409 for incomes ranging from $48,309 to $74,580; nine one-bedrooms with a monthly rent of $1,509 for incomes ranging from $51,738 to $83,880; and 12 two-bedrooms with a monthly rent of $1,811 for incomes ranging from $62,092 to $100,620.
Prospective renters must meet income and household size requirements to apply for these apartments. Applications must be postmarked or submitted online no later than September 24, 2024. Read the full article.
Joanna Kandel is director of the property developer Camber Property Group. She oversees new development projects, provides oversight and assistance to junior staff, manages contractors, prepares proposals and analyzes acquisition opportunities. She also represents the firm at meetings with lenders, business partners, government agencies and community stakeholders. Read the full feature here.
By Michael Young and Matt Pruznick | NEW YORK YIMBY
July 27, 2024
New renderings have been revealed for Liberty Landing, an affordable housing conversion and expansion of the former Bayview Correctional Facility at 550 West 20th Street in West Chelsea, Manhattan. Designed by COOKFOX Architects and developed in a joint venture between Camber Property Group and Osborne Association, the $108 million project will involve the repurposing of the 100,000-square-foot Art Deco building and the construction of a seven-story addition atop its parapet. The development will yield 124 permanently affordable housing units, with 74 dedicated to formerly incarcerated individuals, as well as 15 short-term transitional homes for individuals with mental health challenges, on-site supportive services, and a ninth-floor outdoor terrace. The property is located at the corner of West 20th and West Streets, across from Hudson River Park and directly abutting Jean Nouvel’s residential tower at 100 Eleventh Avenue. Read the full article
By Paul Frangipane and Ethan Marshall | BRONX TIMES
September 16, 2024
The Bronx-based multi-service agency R.A.I.N. held a gala celebrating its 60th anniversary at Marina Del Rey in the Bronx on Thursday, Sept. 12.
The main mission of the organization is to enhance the well-being and quality of life for those of all ages in need of help by meeting their interim needs. The agency offers a myriad of services, focusing on a continuum of care that includes a range of services for seniors and people with disabilities.
In addition to having full-service neighborhood senior centers at 12 locations in the Bronx and another one in Manhattan, R.A.I.N. also offers home-delivered meals to homebound elderly, transportation services, assistance with benefits and entitlements, case management and elder abuse services and Cucina Dolores, a community-based mobile meals program for homeless and hungry people in the South Bronx, in collaboration with the Bob and Dolores Hope Foundation.
One the organization’s notable commitments to the elderly is sponsoring two residential housing projects providing apartments for low-income seniors. Additionally, its affiliated Home Health Care Program provides in-home attendant and personal care services for elderly, disabled and homebound individuals of all ages.
During the gala, multiple dignitaries were honored for their service and contributions to R.A.I.N. Among the honorees were New York City Department for the Aging Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez, Camber Property Group Principal Rick Gropper, KZA Realty Group President Kathy Zamechansky and retired nurse and R.A.I.N. Board Member Catherine Alicia Georges. Read the full article here.
December 21, 2023
On December 21, 2023, Camber Property Group, Westhab and Wavecrest partnered together to host a holiday luncheon and blanket distribution at East Tremont Residence. Residents were appreciative of the kind gesture to provide a warm meal and a colorful blanket for their apartment.
December 21, 2023
On December 21, 2023 Camber Property Group and Neighborhood Initiative Development Corporation (NIDC) hosted the first Winter Social in the community at Morris Heights Mews.
Residents from the three buildings attended the event and an open space was provided for them to engage with one another. Light refreshments were provided and residents are looking forward to more open forums where they can speak with their neighbors.
December 21, 2023
On December 21, 2023, CPG along with Dolphin Property Services and the Stevenson Commons Tenant Association hosted their first toy giveaway for the residents at Stevenson Commons. Toys were distributed to all the children who came to the community room.
December 18, 2023
On the week of December 18, 2023, CPG distributed 720 gloves throughout all the Bronx Parks buildings and Highbridge Houses in conjunction with the Tenant Association Presidents of the respective properties.
December 5, 2023
On December 5, 2023, the Edenwald Resident Association and Camber Property Group co-hosted the first ever inaugural holiday celebration at the Edenwald Houses in the Northeast Bronx.
Nearly 200 residents of the Edenwald Houses attended the event, which featured a tree lighting, a performance by a local student, hot cocoa and cookies, free toys for children who attended and more.
The event was co-sponsored by Edenwald PACT Partners, C+C Apartment Management, Mosholu Montefiore Community Center and Metro World Kids.
November 21, 2023
On November 21, 2023, CPG, Westhab and Wavecrest hosted a Thanksgiving Luncheon at East Tremont Residence. This opportunity gathered residents in the community room to show our thanks for residing at East Tremont.
November 13, 2023
On November 13, 2023, Camber Property Group, Dolphin Property Services, the Stevenson Commons Tenant Association and Krasdale hosted a grocery giveaway. 300 bags full of produce was provided and the presiding elected officials provided turkeys to go with the grocery bags.
May 4th, 2020
As millions of New Yorkers are shuttered at home during the COVID-19 crisis, access to the internet for socialization, school and work is crucial.
But for many people, that is not an option. Realizing this is a reality for far too many, Camber Property Group has worked to provide support to its residents during the pandemic, both through technology and direct outreach.
Recently, it distributed hundreds of personal Wi-Fi hot spots, known as a “MiFi,” to its tenants at their affordable housing developments in the Bronx, in order to help keep them connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The developer hosted several events over the past few weeks, where residents were encouraged to visit their lobby to receive a MiFi. The company made more than 600 MiFis available to residents of their Bronx Park and Highbridge House portfolios.
October 15th, 2018
Camber believes that strengthening communities involves more than developing affordable housing. Last year, Camber was proud to help Key Collegiate Charter School find a temporary space for its students and staff in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Camber’s leveraged its development expertise to identify the right location, assist in lease negotiations, file proper permits and supervise construction. This allowed Key Collegiate to focus on the academic needs of its students and prepare for a fall opening.
Key Collegiate opened its doors in August 2018 and has one hundred fourth-grade students enrolled. The school plans to grow to be a fourth-through-eighth-grade school in the years to come, and in order to do so, it will need a larger, permanent home. Camber will be assisting Key Collegiate in this process, and we look forward to seeing Key Collegiate realize its full potential and helping the Brownsville community thrive.
August 17th, 2018
Camber Property Group continues to work with its partners, PRCNY, to further improve NYC residents’ understanding of affordable housing. Camber and PRCNY were pleased to offer a workshop for Bronx residents, particularly those from the Community District 2, to learn about affordable housing, area median income (AMI) levels, the application process, and current projects in the city, including PRC Fox Street. Attendees also enjoyed from light refreshments while having discussions about affordable housing, and resources for further consultation were provided, such as application information from HPD and financial resources from ARIVA.
July 18th, 2018
As an affordable housing developer, Camber Property Group aims to further the public understanding of affordable housing in New York City. Camber was pleased to offer a workshop for Bushwick residents to learn about affordable housing and current projects in the city, including 1601 DeKalb Ave. Attendees learned how to search for affordable housing and how to prepare for the application process. A short overview of the NYC Housing Connect portal was covered, and resources for further information were also provided.
By Nate Berg | FAST COMPANY
August 20, 2024
As cities around the world look for ways to convert empty office buildings into much-needed housing, one conversion project in New York City has a much different starting point. Liberty Landing is a 146-unit 100% affordable housing project that will be built from the bones of a former women’s prison.
Located in the now-posh Chelsea district of Manhattan between the Hudson River and the High Line, the Bayview Correctional Facility operated from 1971 until its closure and abandonment after being damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. But it wasn’t just a prison. When the Art Deco building originally opened in 1931, it was a YMCA rooming house for seamen on shore leave. “This was back in the days when there were sailors and merchant marines and Manhattan was surrounded by wharves and there were tall ships everywhere,” says Karen Hu of Camber Property Group, the developer behind the conversion project. A narrow nine-story building with tiny dorm-like rooms lining a narrow hallway, the building provided affordable and temporary accommodations at a time when Chelsea was a much different kind of neighborhood. Read the full article here.
By Isabelle Durso | COMMERCIAL OBSERVER
January 8, 2024
Camber Property Group has closed on a massive deal to take over a large multifamily complex in East New York, Brooklyn, that tenants have said was in a state of disrepair, Commercial Observer has learned.
Camber has purchased the 11-building, 1,527-unit Linden Plaza apartment complex from Linden Plaza Preservation, an entity managed by RY Management, for nearly $1 billion, the developer said. The deal closed just before the new year.
“This was a historic transaction and one of the largest multifamily transactions,” Rick Gropper, founding principal at Camber, told CO. “This transaction allows all of the stakeholders in a public-private partnership to make real improvements to benefit the residents’ quality of life.”
The project has a total development cost of approximately $845 million, funded through financing from J.P. Morgan Chase, Merchants Capital, the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC), the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and Freddie Mac loans, the firm said.
No brokers were involved in the deal. Spokespeople for HPD, HDC, J.P. Morgan, Merchants Capital and RY Management did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Located at 675 Lincoln Avenue southwest of Robert E. Venable Park, Linden Plaza was built in 1971 over a nine-block railyard using development rights from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, according to Gropper.
But residents of the apartment complex reported dangerous living conditions in recent years, saying their apartments had mold, caving-in ceilings and leaky pipes. Despite repeated complaints, residents told News 12 that repairs were never made.
Camber is now planning to complete $400 million worth of improvements at the building, including new kitchens, bathrooms, common areas and HVAC upgrades.
Housing Opportunities Unlimited will assist residents looking for temporary relocation as their apartments are renovated, Camber said.
Camber and its partners also plan to bring “critical social services” to the property to support tenants, including mental health counseling, job training and financial literacy assistance, according to the developer.
“This [project] will allow us to provide critical services to the residents, as well as restore amenity spaces that they haven’t been able to use in many years and create a place they’re proud to call home,” Gropper said.
TRADED
December 20, 2024
Camber Property Group has teamed up with RiseBoro Community Partnership to develop 1601 DeKalb Avenue, a $75 million affordable housing project in Bushwick. The project will feature 127 new housing units and aims to address the growing demand for affordable housing in the area.
The topping out ceremony for the building took place on December 10, 2024. The development had to go through an extensive rezoning process, which was completed in 2018. This allowed the previously manufacturing-zoned lot to be designated for residential use. The rezoning effort involved collaboration with local officials, community stakeholders, and Brooklyn Community Board #4. The development team closed on the project in December 2023 and is targeting a Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) by January 2026.
1601 DeKalb Avenue will offer a variety of apartment types to accommodate different family sizes: 33 studios, 52 one-bedroom units, 24 two-bedroom units, and 18 three-bedroom units. The project includes 45 units funded by the NYC 15/15 program, which provides rental assistance and social services for young families. Rent affordability will range from 40% to 100% of the Area Median Income (AMI), with 50% of the units designated as permanently affordable.
The development will provide several on-site amenities, including property management and social services offices, 24/7 security, and laundry facilities. The marketing of affordable units will begin through the Housing Connect portal in mid-2025, with a 50% Community Board preference, and set-asides for mobility-impaired and vision/hearing-impaired individuals.
1601 DeKalb Avenue will be one of the most environmentally-friendly buildings in New York City. It will meet the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria, focusing on energy efficiency, reduced carbon emissions, and community health. The building will feature high-efficiency electric heating and cooling systems, ample bike storage, community rooms, and an open landscaped courtyard.
The building is conveniently located near public transportation, with easy access to the DeKalb Avenue stop on the L subway line and several bus routes. It is also within walking distance of Maria Hernandez Park and Grover Cleveland Playground, offering residents additional recreational options.
With this project, Camber Property Group continues to expand its affordable housing footprint in Brooklyn, where it currently owns nearly 1,000 affordable units in neighborhoods such as Prospect Park South and East New York.
By The Editors | COMMERCIAL OBSERVER’S OWNERS MAGAZINE
December 10, 2024
Rick Gropper
Principal and co-founder at Camber Property Group
Are you going to buy in `25? If so, what asset class?
Camber remains bullish on the acquisition of existing affordable housing as well as land to build affordable, supportive and transitional housing. There is such an acute need for this type of housing as market rent climbs and the effects of inflation are felt on residents’ wallets. Camber has several deals currently in contract that will close in `25 in the permanent housing and transitional spaces.
Is there a single “good” sign you see in a distressed property that makes you want to buy it?
Desire to make a change. We see a lot of distressed opportunities and have a track record of successfully turning around some highly physically and financially distressed assets. This requires a lot of hands-on blocking and tackling with significant financial risk to the incoming developer. We won’t get involved in something unless we have good partners — including on the sell side of the transaction — who are all working toward the same goal. Basis helps, also.
What real estate or tax policy would you like to see from a Trump administration?
From an income tax perspective, we would like to see bonus depreciation reinstated, as it will phase down to 0 percent in 2027. This deduction is beneficial to us as direct owners of real estate, but even more so in our efforts to bring investors into the space. Low-Income Housing Tax Credit investors and conventional equity investors alike can use passive loss deductions to boost their returns on an after-tax basis and fund more capital into deals as a result. Permanent bonus depreciation is certainly something Trump can get behind — it’s from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
Another tax-driven item would be exempting affordable housing from the volume cap for private activity bonds. This is a super nerdy thing, but would double affordable housing production in New York City over the next decade and greatly increase it nationwide.
If you could stack the new administration with people you know and do business with, who would you choose?
I would make Walter McNeil HUD secretary. He’s the longtime president of the Edenwald Houses tenants association and one of the best people I know. Walter lives in the 2,000-unit former New York City Housing Authority complex that we recapitalized, and are in the process renovating. He has an amazing perspective and temperament. Walter spent two and a half years fighting for our country in the Vietnam War. He then came back and landed a job at the U.S. Postal Service, where he worked until retirement.
Which market (outside of NYC) do you like best? Which market (including NYC) are you most fearful of?
As we grow nationally, it becomes more and more clear how difficult it is to do business here as a developer and owner. The level of regulation in New York City has become almost untenable between new local laws passed every day and collection issues. I don’t want to sound super-negative because New York City is our home base. There are things that we need to collectively do more efficiently to encourage investment here.
Outside of the city, Camber is working in a bunch of states now, and our experience in Ohio has been very encouraging.
What’s going to be your biggest expense in 2025?
Camber’s biggest expense is also its greatest asset: our team. For our operating assets, the biggest expense across the board is insurance. So many insurance carriers have dropped the New York City affordable housing market that the cost of insurance has doubled or even tripled over the past five years.
What are your predictions for the mayor’s City of Yes?
City of Yes is going to pass. The principles are sound and the pros at the Department of City Planning and City Hall are going to help get this across the finish line. I’m sure there will be modifications, but, even so, it will be a huge win for the city. Projections show it will increase housing production by 30 percent over a 15-year period.
Lightning Round
Social media of choice?
I waste a lot of time on Instagram. Follow my dog @batesthesilverfox.
AI: Helpful in CRE or a fad?
Helpful.
Last movie you saw in a theater?
“Straight Outta Compton.” That was 10 years ago.
You’re going on a six-month expedition into the Amazon. What’s your last meal before you get on the plane?
Pizza from Roberta’s.
Tesla or BMW?
Neither.
Will interest rates be below or above 4 percent on July 1, 2025?
Above, sadly.
If you could partner with one person in the business on a property, who would it be?
Ron Moelis. Don’t tell him. His head is big enough.
What are you tired of talking about?
Interest rates.
By Kathryn Brenzel | THE REAL DEAL
November 23, 2024
One developer sees immediate benefit for Bronx affordable housing project
Mayor Eric Adams let his deputies take the lead on drumming up excitement for his legacy-making housing policy.
But after its approval Thursday evening, Adams stopped to talk to reporters at City Hall, and reminded them of the narrative that overshadowed the negotiations.
“People constantly stated, ‘Oh, Eric, you’re distracted … You’re distracted, you’re distracted.’ I think this is going to be a real part of a legacy and history that, no matter what they throw at us, we’re going to land the plane,” he said.
He was alluding to concerns that federal corruption charges against him would weaken the effort to pass the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity.
Sporting a hat that said “yes to housing opportunities” and flanked by First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, he repeatedly referred to the text amendment as the “the most historical housing reform in the history of the city.”
The City Council, however, had chipped away at the City of Yes, making changes that will reduce how much housing it will create by 20,000 homes.
The modifications preserved parking minimums for new housing construction in much of the city, barred backyard accessory dwelling units in certain low-density areas, added affordability requirements to transit-oriented and “town center” projects and deepened affordability requirements for a new density bonus program.
But the administration, pro-housing groups and some developers took the win. Torres-Springer emphasized that the modifications did not eliminate any “major components,” and City Planning Director Dan Garodnick called the changes “thoughtful.”
Adams noted that the amendments to City of Yes were responsive to concerns raised by community members.
“We knew at the start of this that we needed to be willing to hear both sides,” he said when asked about the changes to the proposal. “I never go into negotiations expecting to walk away with everything I want.”
The changes were accompanied by a $5 billion commitment from the city for housing and infrastructure, with $1 billion of that money coming from the state.
AnneMarie Gray, of Yimby group Open New York, views the approval as a critical acknowledgement of the need to address the city’s housing shortage by making it easier to build. She said in a statement that if the full Council approves the text amendment, as is expected next month, it will be the “clearest sign yet that our leadership is capable of taking on big challenges.”
Build, baby, build
For the developers, the passage of City of Yes, even a diluted version, is a victory.
Real Estate Board of New York President Jim Whelan called it a “good day in the effort to produce much needed mixed-income rental housing.”
Developers support the removal of parking mandates because it enables them to add more housing, which brings in more revenue than parking spots.
The City of Yes will leave most of Manhattan free of parking minimums and the northernmost parts of the borough with lower parking requirements for projects. They were also removed in the western parts of Brooklyn and Queens. In the rest of the city, the requirements were either reduced or left intact (much of Queens and Staten Island kept parking minimums).
Rick Gropper, founding principal of Camber Property Group, called the result a “huge benefit” for the city. It will have an immediate impact on his firm’s affordable housing projects: The scaled-back parking restrictions in parts of the Bronx significantly reduce how many spots his firm has to build at a large-scale development it is planning.
“Each space can add between $75,000 and $150,000 in cost to the job. It also adds complications, and affects the building design,” he said, noting that City of Yes will allow his firm to “do more with the same resources.”
Council member Kevin Riley, a Northeast Bronx resident who chairs the zoning subcommittee, defended the preservation of some parking mandates. He said planning should not be “theoretical or wishful thinking,” but reflect the “actual built environment” of neighborhoods.
“New York City is a very large city, and some areas of the city are not well serviced by public transportation. Is this fair? No. Should the residents in this badly serviced area be penalized further? No,” he said before the subcommittee’s vote. “I live in one of these areas. You need a car to get groceries, grab coffee or go to the doctor, bring your kids to the park. Our modifications reflect this reality, our constituents’ reality.”
The Universal Affordability Preference, which provides a 20 percent density bonus on projects that devote the extra space to affordable housing, was already seen as less developer-friendly than the program it is replacing, Voluntary Inclusionary Housing. UAP requires deeper affordability (units affordable for households earning, on average, 60 percent of the area median income) and provides less of a density bonus per square foot of affordable housing.
The Council changed that so when the density bonus is 10,000 square feet or more, at least 20 percent of the affordable units must be set aside for families earning 40 percent of the area median income. The change makes the program less appealing to developers.
The Council also added affordability requirements to “town center” and transit-oriented projects with 50 or more units, mandating 20 percent of units be set aside for those earning 80 percent of the AMI. The affordability rules could make projects financially infeasible for some developers, said Dan Marks, CEO of Brooklyn-based commercial brokerage TerraCRG.
“The proposal that they initially had would have had a much bigger impact than the proposal that is ultimately going to be passed,” he said. “My hope is that they didn’t take out so much that the impact is not going to be that great.”
Not cutting it
The administration estimates that the changes to City of Yes could add 80,000 housing units over the next 15 years, instead of the 109,000 originally projected beyond the usual production.
Some saw the modifications as an acquiescence to suburban opponents that came at too great a cost.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso criticized the exclusion of single-family, “contextual” zoning districts from the legalization of backyard accessory dwelling units. Transit-oriented development, which allows apartment buildings of three to five stories, was barred from areas zoned for single-family homes and duplexes.
“[City of Yes] was never a panacea for our city’s housing crisis,” Reynoso said in a statement. “But it was at least a modest opportunity to begin addressing the discriminatory zoning practices that force low-income, Black and Brown neighborhoods to do all of the work of building new housing while low-density neighborhoods get away with contributing nothing.”
Sara Lind, co-executive director of Open Plans, a group that advocates for ending parking mandates, called the outcome an “incremental victory.”
“We’re disappointed that it has once again proven so difficult for our leaders to stand boldly against car dominance, even as some Council members bemoan their districts’ lack of safe streets and transit options,” she said in a statement.
Staten Island Council member David Carr proposed a motion to reject the text amendment ahead of the zoning subcommittee’s vote.
“No to a process that solicited communities and community boards for their comments and feedback, only for it to be mostly ignored,” he said. “No to a process that tells hardworking residents what their neighborhoods should look like.”
The motion failed, but garnered support from Staten Island Council member Kamillah Hanks.
The final vote is slated for Dec. 5, and the text amendment’s on-the-ground impact will take time. Marks said the City of Yes completes a trifecta for the real estate industry this year, after passage of multifamily project tax break 485x and interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
“Those three things have shown people that New York City is open for business,” he said.
He noted that the mayor’s legal troubles raised concern that City of Yes would not advance, but its progress shows a recognition that “without bold policy changes, you are going to continue to have this housing crisis.”
“[Thursday] sort of proved that the need is bigger than any political trading that needs to happen here,” he said. Read the full article here.
By Amanda Schiavo | COMMERCIAL OBSERVER
November 8, 2024
The commercial real estate industry says the requirements will lead to slimmed-down projects at a time when the city needs lots of new housing
“Affordable housing.” It’s almost an oxymoron when it comes to living in New York City.
Rents are rising — New York City’s median rent price is almost double the national average — and much faster than wages, making this is a real issue for city residents, with many struggling to keep a roof over their head. About 350,000 people are without homes on any given night in New York City, according to data from the Coalition for the Homeless. The city’s apartment vacancy rate reached a “historic low” of 1.4 percent this year and, coupled with the lack of affordable housing, spurred the realization that legislative action was needed to combat the housing crisis.
So, after several failed attempts, state lawmakers passed a real estate tax abatement program earlier this year called Real Property Tax Law Section 485x that could make at least some of the city’s housing stock more affordable.
The new section offers partial property tax exemptions for new rental buildings. The tax exemptions last 35 years for projects with at least 100 units and 40 years for those with 150 units provided that 20 to 25 percent of those units are designated as affordable housing. For developments of at least 150 units, the developer also doesn’t have to pay land taxes during construction.
“Having a tax abatement will foster the production of housing,” Sean Kelly, partner at Ariel Property Advisors, said. “New York City has historically had a perpetual shortage of housing, both free market and affordable housing. So with 485x you will produce both free market and affordable housing.”
Some experts in the commercial real estate space say having 485x on the books is better than the void that was left when the previous program — 421a — expired in June 2022.
Construction of new housing units in the city dropped following 421a’s expiration, with new housing construction falling by 5 percent annually in the third quarter of 2024, according to data from the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY). In 2023, REBNY found that developers proposed only 9,909 residential units, compared to 45,593 proposed units for all of 2022.
However, there is concern that one detail setting 485x apart from 421a could be just the thing that hinders future project development: wage requirements.
Approved in April, 485x comes with stricter wage requirements than 421a for construction workers. Developments with at least 100 units are required to offer a minimum wage of $40 per hour, which will increase by 2.5 percent annually, according to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), which released the proposed rules for the program last month. (They have yet to be finalized.) Sites with at least 150 units will require a minimum construction worker wage that is the lesser of $72.45 per hour, or 65 percent of the greatest prevailing rate of wages and supplements within a classification.
Under 421a, developers were required to pay construction workers an average hourly wage of $60 in Manhattan, and $45 per hour in Brooklyn or Queens for projects with 300 units or more, according to law firm Holland & Knight.
“The [wage] guidelines that 485x comes with make it financially infeasible for a lot of projects to move forward,” Rick Gropper, co-founder of Camber Property Group, said. “Anything 100 units or greater will have a wage requirement that really adds cost onto an already strapped project. The additional expense that 485x places on the project by setting a wage floor of $40 makes a lot of projects infeasible, and that’s why you’re seeing some developers splitting buildings into two.”
Such subdivision could become the new norm if the wage requirements of 485x prove too costly for those developing larger properties, since projects below 100 units — or what is known as middle-market developments — have no prevailing wage requirements, said Kelly.
“There’s always been a deep buyer pull for the middle-market size projects,” Kelly said. “What is happening now, based on 485x is … the developer is going to subdivide, reapportion the larger site, and create smaller sites in order to build multiple buildings with less than 100 units to avoid those wage requirements.”
REBNY is also critical of the wage requirements that come along with 425x. In testimony given at an HPD hearing for the rules, REBNY noted that it is a “challenging program” due to “significantly higher labor costs” and that “the proposed rules make challenging math even harder by imposing the 3 percent reduction per [area median income] band.”
As developers try to figure out if the wage requirements for larger projects are feasible, others might opt to utilize the extended time frame of the old 421a regulations instead, which now allow projects to be completed by 2031 rather than the original deadline of 2026.
“What I’m hearing is that people are still trying to figure out if the construction wages are workable,” Patrick Sullivan, a real estate lawyer with Kramer Levin, said. “I haven’t actually seen any projects moving forward under the new law, except for smaller projects. That’s not to say there will not be [larger projects], but one of the things the legislature did in the spring is they allowed for an extended period to use the old 421a. So I’m sure developers will use it.”
While the wage requirements will almost certainly cause developers to re-evaluate how they’ll design their projects, it isn’t the only initiative taken on by the city that is on their minds. Zoning changes will also play a part in future projects.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty because of the ‘City of Yes’ zoning changes,” Sullivan said. “There are these city zoning changes that are probably going to be adopted by the end of the year.”
City of Yes is Mayor Eric Adams’s ambitious plan to modernize the city’s 1960s-era zoning laws in an effort to create more housing, as well as other initiatives. A component of the City of Yes involves relaxing some zoning rules to make it easier for developers to convert office buildings into residential housing.
City of Yes has already passed through the Department of City Planning and is now in the hands of the City Council, which already released “City For All,” a counter-plan that calls for boosting voucher programs and putting more funding in public transportation.
“Those proposals would significantly change the residential zoning laws within New York City, in ways that relate to 485x,” Daniel Bernstein, a real estate lawyer with Rosenberg & Estis, said.
City of Yes could impact projects under 485x by allowing additional residential floor area, Bernstein said. It also could encourage the construction of apartments priced to be affordable for renters earning 60 percent of the area median income, he said.
Additionally, City of Yes eliminates or reduces parking requirements, which Bernstein said his clients feel is a huge waste of time and money because nobody uses them much in a city where only about 45 percent of residents own a car and the sinews of public transit stretch far and wide. City of Yes would also change the minimum size of residential units, creating more density.
“A number of my clients who are looking at building construction and 485x projects are also kind of in a holding pattern while the City of Yes zoning amendments are considered by the City Council,” Bernstein said. “When that is resolved, they’ll be able to make business decisions about what to build on sites they own, or whether to buy additional sites.”
While 485x has been heralded by its creators as part of the answer to New York City’s housing problem, that doesn’t mean there aren’t critics. Advocacy groups argue that the program’s affordability benchmarks do little to help low-income New Yorkers.
“Rental properties are really over-taxed, and they’re over-taxed so that wealthy homeowners are under-taxed,” said Cea Weaver, coalition director for Housing Justice for All, a statewide coalition of over 80 grassroots groups representing tenants and homeless New Yorkers. “It is just one of the many, many public policies that prioritizes owners over renters, and 485x is an attempt to correct for that by giving property owners a tax exemption to build housing that is for renters.”
Weaver called 485x a “Band-Aid” for a broken property tax system and something that isn’t going to get at the root causes of the housing crisis since it won’t result in housing that is actually affordable.
“The real term that [we] would want to use is ‘income targeted,’” she said. “Those units are targeted to people who make a certain amount of money, and the person who lives in them is going to be paying a maximum of 30 percent of their income in rent. So that’s what people mean when they say affordable.”
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development created the definition of affordable in the 1980s, Weaver said. At the time, the agency said it would be expected that people pay 30 percent of their income in all federally subsidized programs. But a lot has changed since the 1980s and Weaver says that definition doesn’t cut it anymore.
“The cost of groceries has gone up, the cost of health care has gone up, wages have been basically stagnant,” she said. “So it’s actually no longer a very useful number, and I personally think it really needs to be revisited.”
With 485x still in its infancy, the commercial real estate space appears to be taking a wait-and-see approach as it weighs the potential impacts of the wage requirements and the looming City of Yes vote on future projects. Residents will also have to do the same to find out if 485x does anything to move the needle on housing affordability. (There were record high rents under 421a, after all.)
“[485x] is never going to make everybody happy,” Kelly said. “But it’s always a step in the right direction to add supply to the market and reduce the rent burden on consumers.” Read the full article here.
By The Editors | COMMERCIAL OBSERVER
October 27, 2024
It’s a living One thing you might have noticed about a lot of the aforementioned deals: They were multifamily, which is still a pretty underserved asset class in a lot of metro areas.
Despite the fact that New York Mayor Eric Adams is under indictment for alleged bribery and much of his administration is reeling, his City of Yes zoning proposals are still broadly popular.
The City of Yes “should be best understood as a housing supply strategy rather than a housing affordability strategy,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.
Even political rivals like City Comptroller Brad Lander are advocating for City of Yes. “The proposals would also help us catch up with cities across the country that are working to end exclusionary zoning and further fair housing goals, correcting for dozens of rezonings over the past 20 years that limited new development in neighborhoods with strong access to public services,” Lander said in a statement. “In particular, allowing new development in transit-rich neighborhoods will help increase New Yorkers’ economic mobility and access to opportunity.”
One has begun to see a lot of transactions and multifamily deals brewing, particularly in the Bronx — some 33 sites sold there in the first half of 2024 for $166.4 million. (Which is a 50 percent jump over the first six months of the previous year.)
“The Bronx has great underlying fundamentals,” said Karen Hu of Camber Property Group, which is working on a $1 billion project in the borough, “including transportation, culture, food and entertainment and open space, so it’s no surprise that development has taken off in the borough.”
Think about that when the Bronx Bombers return to their hometown tomorrow night! Read the full article here.
By Michael Young and Matt Pruznick | NEW YORK YIMBY
October 15, 2024
Construction is progressing on 1601 Dekalb Avenue, a nine-story, two-building residential complex in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Designed by Aufgang Architects and developed by Camber Property Group and RiseBoro Community Partnership, the $75 million project will yield 127 affordable housing units in studio to three-bedroom layouts, with 45 reserved for stable housing and supportive services for young families. Urban Atelier Group is the general contractor for the property, which is situated on an interior lot between Wyckoff and Irving Avenues with frontage on both Dekalb Avenue and Hart Street.
Recent photographs show the western building’s reinforced concrete superstructure built to its pinnacle along Hart Street, with CMU blocks framing the openings for the window grid. Façade installation has yet to begin. The eastern structure is further behind, standing only three stories above Dekalb Avenue, but could potentially top out before the end of the year. Read the full article here.
By Michael Young and Matt Pruznick | NEW YORK YIMBY
OCTOBER 14, 2024
Construction has topped out on 114 Snediker Avenue, a four-story women’s shelter in East New York, Brooklyn. Designed by Curtis + Ginsburg and developed by Camber Property Group and Urban Atelier Group, the 60,000-square-foot, all-electric structure will yield 60 dormitory-style units accommodating 200 beds, as well a cellar level and a 60-vehicle surface-level parking lot. The property is bound by Glenmore Avenue to the south, Snediker Avenue to the east, and Van Sinderen Avenue to the west.
Recent photographs show the reinforced concrete superstructure built to its pinnacle and crews in the process of completing the parapet with CMU blocks. Metal frame studs, yellow insulation boards, and additional CMU blocks are gradually enclosing all four sides of the building above the sidewalk shed and wooden fencing. YIMBY expects façade installation to begin sometime near the start of winter. Read the full article here.
By Paul Frangipane and Ethan Marshall | BRONX TIMES
September 16, 2024
The Bronx-based multi-service agency R.A.I.N. held a gala celebrating its 60th anniversary at Marina Del Rey in the Bronx on Thursday, Sept. 12.
The main mission of the organization is to enhance the well-being and quality of life for those of all ages in need of help by meeting their interim needs. The agency offers a myriad of services, focusing on a continuum of care that includes a range of services for seniors and people with disabilities.
In addition to having full-service neighborhood senior centers at 12 locations in the Bronx and another one in Manhattan, R.A.I.N. also offers home-delivered meals to homebound elderly, transportation services, assistance with benefits and entitlements, case management and elder abuse services and Cucina Dolores, a community-based mobile meals program for homeless and hungry people in the South Bronx, in collaboration with the Bob and Dolores Hope Foundation.
One the organization’s notable commitments to the elderly is sponsoring two residential housing projects providing apartments for low-income seniors. Additionally, its affiliated Home Health Care Program provides in-home attendant and personal care services for elderly, disabled and homebound individuals of all ages.
During the gala, multiple dignitaries were honored for their service and contributions to R.A.I.N. Among the honorees were New York City Department for the Aging Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez, Camber Property Group Principal Rick Gropper, KZA Realty Group President Kathy Zamechansky and retired nurse and R.A.I.N. Board Member Catherine Alicia Georges. Read the full article here.
By Nate Berg | FAST COMPANY
August 20, 2024
As cities around the world look for ways to convert empty office buildings into much-needed housing, one conversion project in New York City has a much different starting point. Liberty Landing is a 146-unit 100% affordable housing project that will be built from the bones of a former women’s prison.
Located in the now-posh Chelsea district of Manhattan between the Hudson River and the High Line, the Bayview Correctional Facility operated from 1971 until its closure and abandonment after being damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. But it wasn’t just a prison. When the Art Deco building originally opened in 1931, it was a YMCA rooming house for seamen on shore leave. “This was back in the days when there were sailors and merchant marines and Manhattan was surrounded by wharves and there were tall ships everywhere,” says Karen Hu of Camber Property Group, the developer behind the conversion project. A narrow nine-story building with tiny dorm-like rooms lining a narrow hallway, the building provided affordable and temporary accommodations at a time when Chelsea was a much different kind of neighborhood. Read the full article here.
By Vanessa Londono| NEW YORK YIMBY
August 3, 2024
The affordable housing lottery has launched for 18-26 Redfern Avenue, an eight-story mixed-use building in Far Rockaway, Queens. Developed by Camber Property Group and designed by Urban Architectural Initiatives, the structure yields 59 residences. Available on NYC Housing Connect are 58 units for residents at 60 percent of the area median income (AMI), ranging in eligible income from $48,309 to $100,620.
Amenities include bike storage lockers, shared laundry room, elevator, and a community center. Residences come with hardwood floors, energy-efficient appliances, and name-brand kitchen appliances, countertops, and finishes. All utilities are included.
At 60 percent of the AMI, there are 37 studios with a monthly rent of $1,409 for incomes ranging from $48,309 to $74,580; nine one-bedrooms with a monthly rent of $1,509 for incomes ranging from $51,738 to $83,880; and 12 two-bedrooms with a monthly rent of $1,811 for incomes ranging from $62,092 to $100,620.
Prospective renters must meet income and household size requirements to apply for these apartments. Applications must be postmarked or submitted online no later than September 24, 2024. Read the full article.
Joanna Kandel is director of the property developer Camber Property Group. She oversees new development projects, provides oversight and assistance to junior staff, manages contractors, prepares proposals and analyzes acquisition opportunities. She also represents the firm at meetings with lenders, business partners, government agencies and community stakeholders. Read the full feature here.