nothin Fairbank Sells For $11M; Rehab Planned | New Haven Independent

Fairbank Sells For $11M; Rehab Planned

Tenant Fabian Rosario and Rosa Rivera outside Fairbank: “Perfect.”

Thomas Breen photo

Newly sold Fairbank Apartments at 355 Ferry St.

A California-based affordable housing developer has purchased a Fair Haven senior apartment complex for $11.1 million — and is seeking a local tax break for a $7 million rehab.

That building is the Fairbank Apartments at 355 Ferry St.

According to the city land records database, on April 9, Fairbank Community Partners purchased the nine-story, 121-unit building from RAHF Fairbank Preservation LLC for $11.1 million.

The apartment complex last sold for $8.3 million in 2015, and the city last appraised it as worth $8.2 million.

The new owners have also submitted a request to the Board of Alders for a 17-year tax break that would limit local property taxes at $1,500 per unit per year at their newly acquired Fair Haven property. That amount would increase by 3 percent every year for the term of the agreement, if approved by the full Board of Alders.

The City Plan Commission unanimously endorsed the proposed tax break, which is now scheduled to be heard and voted on Tuesday night by the aldermanic Tax Abatement Committee.

$7M Planned Rehab; All 121 Units Affordable

The new ownership company is a subsidiary of Community Preservation Partners (CPP), which is in turn the affordable housing preservation and rehabilitation wing of the Irvine, California-based developer WNC.

Fairbank’s previous landlord is a holding company controlled by the New York City-based Jonathan Rose Companies.

In a series of recent email statements sent to the Independent, CPP Senior Development Manager John Arthur Richard Fraser and CPP Senior Vice President Seth Gillis said that the new landlord has big plans for Fairbank.

Those include restricting all 121 of the complex’s apartments for the next 30 years to affordable rents for tenants earning no more than 50 and 60 percent of the area median income (AMI), or for families of four making between $45,900 and $55,080 per year.

Currently, Fraser said, 100 of the property’s 121 units are restricted to tenants making no more than 80 percent AMI, with the remaining 21 units rented out at market rates.

Fraser said that 100 of the complex’s units are supported by federal Section 8 project-based rental subsidies. He added that CPP’s planned deepening of Fairbank’s current affordability comes thanks to a new 20-year contract between CPP and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) provided by the Connecticut Housing Finance Agency (CHFA).

Fraser also said that CPP plans to invest over $7 million in renovating the entire Fairbank building.

That planned renovation includes remodeling all 121 units, making 10 percent of the complex’s units full ADA accessible, energy efficiency upgrades, installing new bike racks and in-unit nurse call systems and a picnic area, providing free Wi-Fi, renovating the community room and business center and laundry facilities, covering the costs of all utilities, and providing a robust” resident services program.

CPP is a mission-driven organization that believes in providing safe and secure affordable housing for all those who need it,” Gillis said when asked why CPP decided to buy the Fairbank Apartments building. Our goal is to enrich lives and strengthen communities, so that people – including our seniors – can rightfully have a place to call home. As we continue to grow our portfolio of East Coast communities, we feel privileged to use our deep-rooted expertise in housing preservation to serve the New Haven community.”

Tenant Take: Renovations Sound Perfect”

Angel Rivera, Ramon Lopez, Miguel Villarini.

Outside of the Fairbank Apartments complex at Ferry Street and Grand Avenue, a handful of current residents praised the new owners’ renovation plans — and generally lauded the complex as a quality, affordable place to live.

They’re gonna remodel everything,” Fabian Rosario said approvingly. New kitchen, new stove, new refrigerator, everything.”

He said he currently pays $231 for his share of the rent of a one-bedroom apartment at Fairbank, where he’s lived for the past four years. He said his sole source of income is Social Security disability payments.

His one-word response to CPP’s planned upgrades to the building: Perfect.”

Ramon Lopez also greeted the planned building improvements with enthusiasm. It’s nice, and I’m happy for it to be better,” he said.

Lopez said that he too is on Social Security disability. He said he’s lived at Fairbank for the past two-and-a-half years. Lopez said that most of the residents at Fairbank live solely off of Social Security.

When asked he likes living at Fairbank, he smiled, and then gestured to Grand Avenue. It’s better than the street,” he said.

17-Year Tax Break Requested; $1,500 Per Unit Per Year

Zoom

Wednesday night’s City Plan Commission virtual meeting.

To help fund these renovations and the three decade affordability restrictions at Fairbank, CPP has also submitted a request to the city for a 17-year tax break.

The terms and financial details of that requested tax break are laid out in a 22-page document provided to the alders by Clarus Global Alliance’s Barry Cunningham on Feb. 23, when CPP was under contract to purchase Fairbank Apartments.

The parent owner, Community Preservation Partners, is an accomplished developer of affordable housing with many developments and properties throughout the country,” Cunningham wrote in the local tax break application. They plan a $7,048,250 renovation which will retain 121 units – all of
which will be 100% at or below the 60% Area Median Income (AMI) as established by HUD. Given the limitations to operations common with regulated housing, they are in need of assistance in the form of a Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILOT).”

Click here to read the tax break request in full.

According to the tax break request, CPP is looking to have the city limit local property taxes at 355 Ferry St. to $1,500 per unit per year, or $181,500 in total, for the duration of the 17-year agreement. That per-unit amount paid to the city would increase by 3 percent every year over the 17 years of the agreement, if approved by the alders.

The tax break document also states that the complex currently consists of 106 one-bedroom apartments at a net rentable square feet of 485, and 15 two-bedroom apartments at a net rentable square feet of 675,

The average current monthly rent for the one-bedroom apartments is $1,120, while the average post-construction rent for those units will be $1,704. The average current monthly rent for the two-bedroom apartments, meanwhile, is $1,451, while the average post-construction rent for those units will be $1,973.

During last Wednesday’s regular monthly meeting of the City Plan Commission, local land-use commissioners unanimously endorsed the proposed tax break.

But not before reminding themselves why a requested tax break for a local affordable housing complex would be coming to the local land use board in the first place.

I believe the item is referred to [the City Plan Commission] because it generally is dealing with property within the City of New Haven,” said City Plan Department staffer Anne Hartjen.

Westville Alder and City Plan Commissioner Adam Marchand agreed. We’ve seen a number of these tax abatement agreements come before this commission,” he said. They’re usually in support of affordable housing.”

Ultimately, he said, the Board of Alders is the budgetary authority for the city, and it is up to the alders to make policy decisions about whether or not what is gained through a tax break is enough for what is lost.

The question before the City Plan Commission, he said, should be: Does this advance the goals of the city’s comprehensive plan? Is it seeking a policy end that is reflected in a future shape of the city we want?

The fostering of the creation of more affordable units is very clearly something in our comprehensive plan. It’s a value that we hold near and dear.”

From that perspective, he encouraged the commission to give a favorable report to the Board of Alders on the proposed tax break.

Before voting with the rest of her colleagues in support of the proposed tax break, City Plan Commission Chair Leslie Radcliffe urged her fellow commissioners, city staff, and the alders more broadly to ask themselves a key question before signing off on any such tax break.

Look at the actual rental rates that tenants will face, she said. Look at how AMI is calculated regionally, and the disparities between that number and the actual incomes of low-income New Haveners. Look at how much in tax dollars the city will be foregoing if it grants a 17-year break.

We always talk about affordable housing,” Radcliffe said. The question being: Affordable for who?”

Tags:

Sign up for our morning newsletter

Don't want to miss a single Independent article? Sign up for our daily email newsletter! Click here for more info.


Post a Comment

Commenting has closed for this entry

Comments

Avatar for Patricia Kane

Avatar for 1644

Avatar for FacChec

Avatar for unionYES

Avatar for Kevin McCarthy

Avatar for 1644

Avatar for One City Dump

Avatar for Kevin McCarthy

Avatar for Aprillevine

Avatar for Perspective

Avatar for FacChec

Avatar for Heather C.

Avatar for Patricia Kane

Avatar for Patricia Kane

Avatar for Kevin McCarthy

Avatar for Patricia Kane

Avatar for Kevin McCarthy

Avatar for Patricia Kane

Avatar for Kevin McCarthy

Avatar for FacChec