L+M Development Partners and Services for the UnderServed secure $78m for Phase 2 housing dev.

Brooklyn, NY L+M Development Partners and Services for the UnderServed (S:US) have closed on a $78 million deal to develop Marcus Garvey Extension Phase 2 Building G in the Brownsville neighborhood. The project will feature 109 units, 55 of which will be supportive housing under the New York City 15/15 Supportive Housing Initiative with supportive services provided on-site by Services for the UnderServed. 

Located at 305 Chester St., Building G will be designed by SLCE Architects and construction is set to begin this month, with an anticipated completion date of October 2025. Once finished, Building G will be a 118,066 s/f, eight-story building with 109 units, featuring 25 studios, 46 one-bedrooms, 24 two-bedrooms, and 14 three-bedrooms. The building will be all-electric with geothermal systems for heating and cooling and will include solar panels on the residential roofs. The building will also include a supportive services office, a recreation room, a gym, a bicycle storage room and outdoor recreation space. The building will be served by two elevators and front desk security with an onsite superintendent.  

Building G will include 55 supportive units, with services provided by S:US such as living skills training and health and wellness services. Building G will participate in NYSERDA’s Multifamily Performance Program, incorporating several energy efficiency measures including: electric stovetops, Energy Star refrigerators, dishwashers and clothes washers; Energy Star high efficacy lighting fixtures with occupancy/daylight sensors, and sub-metering for individual apartments. The building will also have a landscaped rear yard that will be accessible to all residents. 

Overall, Phase 2 of the Marcus Garvey Extension Project will feature 285 units of 100% affordable housing across three buildings, C, E, and G. The project will also contain approximately 14,300 s/f of community facility and retail space and 19 residential parking spaces. In December 2018, L+M Development Partners completed a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) for the Marcus Garvey Extension Project and received the zoning map and text amendments and a special permit for a general large-scale development plan required to facilitate the development of new affordable housing and commercial and community facility space along Livonia Ave. In December 2019, L+M closed on the first phase of construction for three sites, B, D and F, for a total of 348 units of affordable housing and over 12,000 s/f of retail and community facility space. Phase 1 completed construction in the first half of 2022 and was 100% leased by December 2022. Phase 2 Sites C and E will close in March 2024. Altogether, once completed the project will create over 630 new units of affordable housing and over 20,000 s/f of commercial and community facility space that will activate the Livonia Avenue Corridor and improve community retail options.  

The closing of Building G was financed through a combination of HFA tax-exempt bonds, HFA Supportive Housing Opportunity Program (SHOP) subsidy, and LIHTC, Solar, and Geothermal tax credits purchased by Wells Fargo. Both residential and community facility uses at Building G will be eligible for a full 420c real estate tax exemption. The project will also benefit from a supportive housing subsidy for 55 supportive units with a New York City 15/15 Supportive Housing Initiative subsidy.  

“The closing of Building G marks the beginning of Phase 2 of the Marcus Garvey Extension Project, a development that will bring 285 units of much needed affordable housing to the Brownsville neighborhood and that will continue to revitalize the Livonia Avenue corridor,” said Elaine Braithwaite, senior director at L+M Development Partners. “We are proud to partner with Services for the UnderServed to connect residents to critical on-site supportive services and programming that will provide an enhanced quality of life within the Marcus Garvey community.”

“At Services for the UnderServed, we believe that the solution to homelessness is homes. The second phase of the Marcus Garvey Extension Project will not only bring more than one hundred new homes to Brooklyn, but it will also provide space for our staff to work on-site with residents who are most at risk of housing instability,” said Perry Perlmutter, president and CEO of Services for the UnderServed. “We are excited to close this deal with L+M Development Partners and continue our work to develop new affordable and supportive housing across the city.”