NEW YORK CITY AND YONKERS, N.Y. — Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) has provided $780.3 million in construction financing to fund the development of five affordable housing projects in the New York City metro area. The San Francisco-based bank provided the financing through its Community Lending and Investment (CLI) group, and all five loans closed in the month of June.
The developments, which total more than 1,100 apartments, are underway and include: Peninsula Phase II, Wakefield Yards and Blondell Commons in The Bronx; Edgemere Commons Building B1 in Queens; and St. Clair in Yonkers, about 20 miles north of New York City.
The Peninsula community is the second phase of the redevelopment of the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Facility located in the Hunts Point neighborhood of The Bronx. Wells Fargo CLI provided a total of $250.6 million in debt and equity financing to the borrowers: Gilbane Development Co., The Hudson Cos. and MHANY Management.
The project will total 359 affordable units, all reserved for tenants earning 70 percent or less of the area median income (AMI), and 54 of the apartments will be set aside for formerly homeless tenants. The project will include a Head Start daycare facility, as well as community facility space for two local nonprofit organizations.
Wakefield Yards will total 251 affordable units, each reserved for tenants earning 80 percent or less of AMI, including 38 units set aside for formerly homeless individuals. The developer, Radson Development, will build the property to meet LEED Platinum and Enterprise Green Communities certifications. Wells Fargo provided $179.1 million in debt and equity financing for this project.
Blondell Commons will feature 182 units reserved for tenants earning up to 70 percent of AMI, with 55 units being reserved for formerly homeless individuals. Wells Fargo provided $147.1 million in debt and equity financing for the borrower, Exact Capital Group.
Tishman Speyer’s TS Communities is developing Edgemere Commons – Building B1, a 237-unit community located in the Far Rockaway section of Queens. Wells Fargo provided a total of $138.6 million in debt and equity financing to TS Communities for the project, which will feature 201 units affordable for households earning between 30 percent to 80 percent of AMI. The remaining 36 apartments will provide supportive housing for formerly homeless individuals.
In addition, Edgemere Commons – Building B1 will include 8,000 square feet of neighborhood-serving retail space and 7,500 square feet of community facility space. The building will be constructed to Enterprise Green sustainable design standards. This is the second of 11 affordable housing buildings set to rise at Edgemere Commons, which will encompass up to 2,050 apartments upon completion.
Lastly, Wells Fargo provided a total of $65 million of debt and equity financing to MacQuesten Development for St. Clair, a 76-unit development in Yonkers. The building will be built to LEED certifications.
The CLI funding team that closed the five loans included Duane Mutti, Korbin Heiss, Katelyn Meehan, Greg Richards, Jason Fernbach, Nancy Dipasquale, Marc Levine, Jessica Liang, Mark Mendenhall, Madalena Tran and Cassandra Clay.
Wells Fargo manages nearly $2 trillion in assets across 28 countries. Wells Fargo’s CLI group specializes in offering debt and equity capital to developers and other organizations that provide economic development, job creation and affordable housing in communities of need. For affordable housing, the bank provides short-term, balance sheet lending for construction, bridge or substantial rehabilitation.
Wells Fargo’s stock price closed on Monday, Aug. 7 at $45.06 per share, up slightly from $43.19 a year ago.
— John Nelson