Burkhart of EC reps. seller and procures buyer in $96m portfolio sale

Phoenix Realty Group (PRG) has acquired 362 low-income apartments for a cost of $96 million in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The properties are located on 24-28-32 McDonough, 40 McDonough and 7-15 Albany Ave. All of the apartments will be renovated as affordable housing, and 95% of the apartments will be subsidized with long-term section 8 contracts from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The property's seller, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corp. (BSRC), had sought a developer aligned with this mission for several years. Heidi Burkhart, senior director of Eastern Consolidated, represented BSRC and procured PRG as the details of public and private financing were arranged. Financing for two of the properties included the restructuring of their existing mortgages through HUD's mark-to-market program, and the third property included the repurchase and extension of a ground lease that was sold to the city. The price included the settling of payables owed by the properties. Others instrumental in the transaction included Eastern Consolidated financial analyst Scott Ellard, attorney Joe Lynch of Nixon Peabody LLP and teams from Wachovia Bank and Citibank to provide construction and permanent financing for the project. Architects involved in the renovation include Meltzer Mandel Architects and Robert Gaskin Architects. PRG worked with the former director of Multifamily Housing for HUD in the N.Y. region, Deborah VanAmerongen, who is the NYS Housing commissioner. Financing for the acquisition includes tax-credit equity from PRG, tax-exempt bonds and subsidies from the N.Y.C. Housing Development Corp., and tax abatements and subsidies from the N.Y.C. Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The $30 million rehabilitation comes under the direction of PRG Bedford Stuyvesant Partners, a joint venture of PRG and Shinda Management of New York. Construction on all three properties will be done by MDG Design & Construction.