LISC NYC Hosts HUD for Tour of Public-Private Investment in the Bronx
2.27.2018
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LISC Stories
On February 16th, LISC NYC was pleased to host officials from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for a visit with community development corporations (CDCs) who have spurred decades of investment in the South Bronx. LISC HUD Region II Administrator Lynne Patton kicked off the site visit, which included a brief introduction to LISC NYC capacity building programs by Deputy Director Eva Alligood.
The first stop was the New Settlement Community Campus on Jerome Avenue in the Mount Eden neighborhood of the Bronx. Jack Doyle, Executive Director of New Settlement Apartments, explained that the design of the New Settlement Community Center responded to the articulated needs of Mount Eden residents. The center includes two public schools, dance and fitness center spaces, and a five-lane swimming pool for use by community residents as well as students.
For the development of the 24,000 square foot New Settlement Community Center, capacity building resources from LISC NYC were leveraged more than a hundredfold by public and private resources, including $10 million in New Markets Tax Credits and capital funds from the NYC School Construction Authority.
Alexa Sewell, President of Settlement Housing Fund, showed examples of housing preservation and new affordable housing development undertaken by Settlement Housing Fund / New Settlement, as well as privately owned, rent stabilized buildings where Mount Eden property owners are responding to market pressures by raising rents.
LISC and HUD staff arrive at Urban Horizons, the former Morrisania Hospital that was redeveloped by WHEDco as 132 units of affordable housing, plus a commercial kitchen, Early Childhood Discovery Center, home-based childcare training institute, and family support services. The building was recently refinanced and affordability extended for another 40 years.
WHEDco’s Senior Program Manager Yesmin Vega discusses WHEDco’s work revitalizing the Southern Boulevard commercial corridor, with federal capacity building resources from LISC NYC, leveraged by private grants from Citi Community Development and public grants from the NYC Small Business Services’ Neighborhood 360 program.
Photography by Ricky Flores.