HDC, UNHP and tenants celebrate renovation of Rose Hill Apartments

NYC Development Corporation (HDC) president Marc Jahr, Brian Byrne and Joe Muriana from Rose Hill Senior Apartments Inc., were joined on December 10 by general partner and developer, Jim Buckley from University Neighborhood Housing Program, Inc (UNHP) and Nayda Alejandro from Rose Hill Housing Management Corp. to celebrate the grand opening of the Rose Hill Apartments. Located at 2855 Southern Boulevard in the Fordham Bedford Park section in the Bronx, Rose Hills Apartments is a nine-story elevator apartment building with 119 rental units. The building contains a meeting room and 22 outdoor parking spaces. The Rose Hill Apartments renovation was undertaken as part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's ambitious New Housing Marketplace plan to create or preserve 165,000 homes by 2014. The design and renovation of Rose Hill Apartments was led by Daughtry Carstarphen Edelman Sultan, Knox and Wood Architects and the construction work carried out by Notias Construction. Originally constructed in 1984 to serve low-income elderly residents, the Rose Hill Apartments were in need of a heating plant and roof replacement, exterior façade and window repairs/replacement, apartment renovations and maintenance, along with corridor, lobby and common area upgrades. The renovations were funded by HDC through its LAMP and Section 202 Preservation program. HDC issued $10.1 million in fixed-rate tax-exempt bonds to finance the first phase of construction and $8.3 million in permanent financing. The refinancing allowed the existing mortgage to be paid in full and funded the moderate rehabilitation and operating and project reserves. The renovation, which cost a total of $20.1 million created 131 construction-related jobs. "Nothing is more important than a stable, safe affordable home," said HDC president Marc Jahr, "particularly when one is on a fixed income, as are so many senior citizens. We at HDC are proud to be able to play this critical role in helping to strengthen neighborhoods and stabilize families. This building has been given a new lease on life, one that will ensure that it remains safe, quality and affordable housing in the years to come." As the city's premiere housing finance agency, HDC has funded the construction or renovation of thousands of homes throughout the five boroughs. Since 2004, when Mayor Michael Bloomberg's ambitious New Housing Marketplace plan was launched, HDC has provided capital and expertise to produce or preserve more than 43,000 units of affordable housing. "The apartment renovation portion of the work was extremely challenging with elderly residents in-place," said Nayda Alejandro, manager of the Rose Hill Apartments for nearly 24 years, "but most tenants would agree that it was well worth the wait." Alejandro commented that "the community space upgrades, including ping-pong and Wii, have encouraged more tenant participation in activities, and the new lobby and adjoining lounge make the residents feel like they are living in a well appointed upscale hotel. From a management point of view all of the modernizations were essential to ensure that the new building components will take and serve us well into the future." Joe Muriana of Rose Hill Senior Apartments, Inc. and University Neighborhood Housing Program boards said, "All of this would have been impossible without HDC's mortgage commitment, our limited partnership investors and JP Morgan Chase Bank. HUD's participation in approving the 20-year forward commitment of Section 8 Rental subsidies was essential to providing assurance for the low-income tax credit equity investors. This is a great project, brought to fruition by our many talented partners."