Background

The Calvert Apartments and Calvert Lancaster project will create 79 apartments on six scattered sites in East Harlem - 23 rental apartments affordable to low and very low-income families and 56 mixed-income cooperative homeownership apartments, including 22 that will be affordable to low-income families.

Additionally, the entire development will create over 12,000 SF of new retail/commercial space inclusive of 1,000 SF of storefront space for community use and services.

Construction started in May of 2009 on two mixed-income cooperative buildings and in November 2009 on the four, small low-income housing rental buildings. All of the buildings will be LEED Silver rated and are expected to be fully leased or sold and ready to convert to permanent mortgage in 2011.

Two of the development sites include combining both city and privately owned lots that were otherwise vacant and/or blighted and the four remaining sites are extremely narrow, difficult to develop, vacant blighted sites. The completed development will foster neighborhood stabilization and significantly remove long-term blight and provide permanent protection for a community garden located on the southeast corner of 118th Street and Lexington Avenue.

The financing for this project comes from a variety of sources including New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, New York City Housing Development Corporation, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Chase Manhattan Bank, Capital One Bank, Hudson Housing Capital, NYS Affordable Housing Corporation, City Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito and Borough President Scott Stinger.

Click here to download/print a copy of the press release for the December 18, 2009 groundbreaking ceremony.