Fairstead Named One of the Country’s Top Apartment Owners by NMHC
This is the Authority’s fourth closing this year, bringing comprehensive renovations to an additional 87 buildings in Brooklyn
Apartments, public spaces, grounds, and building infrastructure will receive extensive upgrades, improving quality of life for residents
NEW YORK – On Tuesday, November 28, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) closed on the financing for Reid Apartments and Park Rock Consolidated, a $635.6 million Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) project that will bring comprehensive renovations for nearly 3,500 residents living in 87 buildings spread out across East Brooklyn. All of the buildings have now converted to Project-Based Section 8 through the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program, and capital funding will allow the selected PACT partner team to begin fully rehabilitating nearly 1,700 apartments at 15 developments: 104-14 Tapscott Street, Fenimore-Lefferts, Lenox Road-Rockaway Parkway, Ralph Avenue Rehab, Reid Apartments, Rutland Towers, Sutter Avenue-Union Street, and Tapscott Street Rehab, which are consolidated under the Reid Apartments banner; and Crown Heights, Howard Avenue, Howard Avenue-Park Place, Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Park Rock Rehab, Sterling Place Rehabs (Saint Johns-Sterling), and Sterling Place Rehabs (Sterling-Buffalo) from the Park Rock Consolidated bundle.
The PACT partner team, comprised of co-developers BRP Companies, Fairstead, and Urbane, will start construction on the comprehensive rehabilitation; Fairstead will assume day-to-day property management; and Black Veterans for Social Justice will coordinate social services for all buildings in the Reid Apartments and Park Rock Consolidated bundles. Equity capital is provided by Vistria Housing Fund, LP, an impact fund focused on the preservation, improvement, and production of affordable and workforce housing across the United States. The scope of rehabilitation has prioritized each building’s needs and resident preferences while addressing the 20-year capital needs of the properties and investing in healthier, more efficient buildings.
“Our administration is thrilled to join NYCHA residents in celebrating the closing of this deal that will begin to right the wrongs of decades of disinvestment,” said Deputy Mayor of Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “This significant achievement will deliver improvements to the homes of the nearly 3,500 residents who were at the center of this process every step of the way and whose efforts will be felt for generations to come.”
“NYCHA is ecstatic to bring much-needed and comprehensive renovations to 15 East Brooklyn developments at Reid and Park Rock,” said NYCHA Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt. “We’ve worked closely with residents and our PACT partner team to develop a strategy to not only address the extensive needs of these buildings and their aging infrastructures, but to prioritize the quality of life for the people living inside of them.”
“With each PACT conversion NYCHA demonstrates how our residents and PACT partners work together to plan major capital investments for their communities. Residents have shaped every aspect of Reid and Park Rock’s transformation,” said NYCHA Executive Vice President for Real Estate Development Jonathan Gouveia. “We are excited to see nearly 3,500 NYCHA residents benefit from this collaboration and over $635 million in capital repairs made to their homes.”
“Today’s announcement ensures that thousands of public housing residents throughout NYCHA’s Reid and Rock Park developments will greatly benefit from extensive improvements to their homes and buildings,” said New York City Housing Development Corporation President Eric Enderlin. “Thank you to all our partners involved for their tireless commitment to transforming the quality of life across New York City’s public housing stock.”
“The residents of Crown Heights are looking forward to our PACT partners providing the necessary improvements for the development,” said Crown Heights Tenant Association President Andrea Ferris. “Additionally, Central Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation (CBEDC) and Black Veterans will offer our community essential and equitable resources.”
“I’m looking forward to the changes to come – to live a better way of quality of life. Where I can feel secure,” said Howard Reid Park Rock Tenant Association President Selena Davis. “I’m looking forward to the upgraded security, apartment repairs, and strong relationships with our new management company.”
“We are extremely excited about the upcoming innovations as our development is in desperate need of renovations. The residents of Ocean Hill-Brownsville have endured neglect for decades,” said Ocean Hill Brownsville Tenant Association President Shamica Moore. “We are on the rise to a safer, happy place, a better quality of life, and consistent engagement. We look forward to the positive changes on their way to our community.”
“I’m looking forward to transparency and partnership with the new management team. I’m thrilled to be working with a team like Fairstead who will give Fenimore-Lefferts the attention we deserve,” said Fenimore-Lefferts Tenant Association President Leonard Jones.
“We are looking forward to the additional security and feeling of safety in our homes,” said Park Rock Tenant Association President Cleo Graham.
“We are thankful for the opportunity to contribute to the rejuvenation and transformation of the homes of nearly 3,500 NYCHA residents across East Brooklyn,” said BRP Companies Co-Founder and Managing Partner Meredith Marshall. “Centered around our longstanding commitment to guaranteeing the establishment and maintenance of secure and sustainable affordable housing offerings within each of our developments, we look forward to embarking on this new adventure in collaboration with NYCHA, Fairstead, Urbane, Merchants Capital, and Vistria to provide the best quality of life possible for the residents.”
“Today’s announcement is pivotal for our shared vision for the future of Reid Park Rock,” said Fairstead CEO Jeffrey Goldberg. “Public-private partnerships like PACT are essential for the revitalization of public housing. Fairstead is honored to work with NYCHA and our partners as co-developer, general contractor, and property manager at Reid Park Rock, and we look forward to supporting residents by making these much-needed improvements a reality.”
“We are thrilled to embark on the next phase of the PACT program for Reid Park Rock. This closing will provide quality physical improvements to the units and common space throughout the development, long overdue to the residents of the Reid Park Rock community,” said Urbane Senior Vice President of Place-Based Development Naim Brown. “With this new phase, the development partners look forward to implementing a comprehensive economic empowerment plan with the goal of establishing Reid Park Rock as a hub for learning, resources, and training, granting even more access to opportunities for residents to thrive, as well as acting as a model for community wealth creation catalyzed within public housing communities.”
“Collaboration and community engagement are as vital as ever in the urgent task of preserving and improving affordable public housing in New York,” said The Vistria Group Senior Partner and Head of Real Estate Margaret Anadu. “We’re proud to be the lead investor alongside our mission-driven operating partners and strong public-sector partners in this effort, which ensures 3,500 New Yorkers have quality, sustainable places to call home for decades to come.”
“It’s a privilege to have the opportunity to work so closely and consistently with our partners at NYCHA. The preservation of permanently affordable public housing is among the most important work we engage in at Merchants,” said Merchants Capital Vice Chair Mathew M. Wambua.
NYCHA and the PACT partner team, including the Local Development Corporation of East New York, have worked closely with residents over the last two years to design every aspect of Reid and Park Rock’s transformation. Plans were developed through monthly resident association meetings, quarterly community-wide meetings, in-home assessments, development events, surveying, tabling, and phone calls. The PACT partner team has taken over property management responsibilities, with construction beginning later this winter. Among many other improvements, Reid and Park Rock apartment kitchens and bathrooms will be fully renovated, buildings will receive façade repairs and layered access systems at their entrances, and common areas such as lobbies and outdoor areas will be upgraded extensively. Social services for the developments will also be expanded through a partnership with Black Veterans for Social Justice, which will offer case management services to all households, including supporting access to healthy food, employment opportunities, youth activities, and senior services.
Details on the planned investments and improvements are outlined in the Reid & Park Rock Consolidated Community Plan, which was developed in collaboration with resident leaders and is being distributed to every household prior to the start of construction.
Experienced and certified Minority-owned Business Enterprises (MBE), BRP Companies and Urbane bring decades of demonstrated success overseeing affordable housing and mixed-use commercial projects throughout New York City. BRP Companies is a Black-owned real estate firm that is at the forefront of mixed-use development and renovating urban, multi-family properties. Urbane is a community development venture aimed at generating long-term prosperity and wealth creation in historically disinvested communities.
Fairstead is a purpose-driven real estate developer with offices in New York, Maryland, Florida, and Colorado that specializes in creating sustainable, high-quality, affordable housing.
Merchants Capital is serving as a financial partner for the project. Merchants Capital is an established lender and tax credit equity syndicator, with a focus on affordable multifamily housing across the United States. Merchants Capital comprises one of the nation’s largest and most active affordable multifamily lenders.
The PACT program transitions developments from traditional public housing assistance to the more stable, federally funded Project-Based Section 8 program — unlocking funding for designated PACT partners to complete comprehensive repairs. Overall, 138 NYCHA developments (representing over 37,000 apartments) are in pre-development, are under construction, or have completed construction through the program. The Authority is on track to include 62,000 apartments in the PACT program in order to bring the benefits of comprehensive apartment repairs and building upgrades, as well as enhanced property management and social services, to more than 142,000 residents. The New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC), New York City’s municipal Housing Finance Agency, is the key financing partner for PACT. In addition to providing or arranging the financing, HDC provides ongoing asset management and compliance support for PACT transactions.
