NYCHA CELEBRATES TOPPING OUT OF CONSTRUCTION ON NEW YORK’S FIRST LGBT-FRIENDLY AFFORDABLE SENIOR HOUSING WITH BFC PARTNERS, SAGE AND HPD

Ingersoll Senior Residences in Fort Greene is Part of NextGeneration NYCHA’s 100 Percent Affordable Housing Program and Includes a New SAGE Senior Center

Building Expected to Open in June 2019 – the 50^th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and the Birth of the LGBT Rights Movement

  The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), BFC Partners, SAGE, the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) today celebrated the topping out of construction of Ingersoll Senior Residences, one of NYCHA’s first 100 percent Affordable Housing Program developments. The new building is New York City’s first LGBT-friendly affordable senior housing and the largest such development in the nation. As it enters the final phases of construction, officials said the building is expected to open for residents in June 2019 alongside the 50^th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and celebration of World Pride in New York City.

Ingersoll Senior Residences, developed as part of the NextGen NYCHA initiative, is a 17-story building at 112 St. Edwards Street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn that will provide 145 units of affordable senior housing and a new 7,600-square-foot SAGE Center operated by SAGE – the nation’s largest advocacy and service organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT elders.

While the new housing and SAGE Center will be open to all qualifying low-income seniors, BFC Partners and SAGE have worked together to ensure the building is uniquely designed to meet the needs of older members of the LGBT community. Older LGBT people across the nation are statistically more likely to face housing discrimination and harassment and are less likely to have children and other family members to help care for their needs.

“This is an important step forward in delivering the 10,000 new affordable units we have promised,” said NYCHA Interim Chair and CEO Stanley Brezenoff. “This building is the City’s first LGBTQ-friendly development and demonstrates NYCHA and the City’s commitment to ensuring our seniors have access to the safe, affordable homes they deserve.”

The new building is part of NYCHA’s 100 percent Affordable Housing program, helping the Authority meet its goal to provide 10,000 new affordable units over 10 years, in support of Mayor de Blasio’s Housing New York 2.0 plan.

Ingersoll Senior Residences received financing from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the New York City Housing Development Corporation and is being built under New York City’s Extremely Low and Low-Income Affordability (ELLA) Program. All units in the building – including 54 studios and 91 one-bedrooms – will be affordable for older people, age 62 and older, earning up to 60 percent of the area median income (AMI).

The project is also being developed in accordance with the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria (EGCC), which constitutes the only comprehensive green building framework designed for affordable housing. This framework provides proven, cost-effective standards for creating healthy and energy-efficient homes.

“By partnering with non-profits like SAGE, we are providing so much more than affordable housing – we are creating more inclusive opportunities for all New Yorkers, including LGBT seniors, to thrive in a supportive and secure community,” said HDC President Eric Enderlin.  “Congratulations to all our partners as we celebrate another important milestone in the development of Ingersoll Senior Residences.”

"Through Housing New York, we are operating on all cylinders to serve the seniors who helped to build this great city,” said HPD Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer. “In partnership with NYCHA, HDC, and our elected officials we are seizing every opportunity to harness public land for affordable housing and put seniors first.  I want to thank BFC and Sage for pushing forward on this transformational project at Ingersoll Houses in Fort Greene, Brooklyn to create 145 affordable homes and a welcoming community for LGBT seniors. I look forward to welcoming incoming residents to their new homes in the coming months."