Affordable Housing and Minority Business Opportunities for Brooklyn's BedStuy

The groundbreaking ceremony for The Bradford, a 105-unit, mixed-income housing and retail development project at 1560-1576 Fulton Street in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, N.Y., rang with praise for the diligence, support and partnerships of the private and public sectors, local elected officials, non-profit entities and Community Board No. 3 that brought the project to life.

“[The Bradford] weaves together many of the priorities that we have been pursuing for this portion of Fulton Street,” said Colvin W. Grannum, president of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (BSRC), who served as the mistress of ceremony. “What we have been focused on is revitalizing this commercial corridor to bring in more diverse goods and services. We want to make sure that we serve all income bands in the community with housing and services.”

The Bradford is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2012. In keeping with the BSRC’s goal to promote minority-owned businesses and strengthen the economy of the local minority community, approximately 9,700 square-feet of the ground floor will be reserved solely for small businesses. This will mean new employment opportunities for local residents, which, in turn, will contribute to the desired “sustainable community” that The Bradford project has the ability to offer, Grannum said.

Meredith Marshall, managing director of BPR Companies and developer of The Bradford, said the groundbreaking signified victory in multiple battles. “This was five years in the making for the rezoning of Fulton Street. We went through a lot of battles in Councilman Al Vann’s office, but it got done,” he said.

Marshall was effusive about the many partnerships created for The Bradford, including with Goldman Sachs, the project’s sole private investor. “Goldman Sachs was there for the acquisition. They were the construction lender. They bought the new market tax credit,” he said. He was referring to the program established as part of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000, in which tax credit incentives are provided to investors who make equity investments in certified community development entities for revitalization projects in low-income communities, deemed “new markets.”

New York City’s Housing Preservation and Development agency and Housing Development Corporation also joined forces for the project. “We’re in a difficult economic time and resources are limited,” Marshall acknowledged. “You have to do more with less and this project is a testament to that.”

The Bradford is the first project of its kind in Bedford Stuyvesant, he said. “We’re going to make our own electricity and in fact, serve as our own utility company,” Marshall boasted, explaining that each of the 105 units will have a LED—semiconductor light source—and each apartment will be equipped with a meter to allow residents to see the amount of energy being used. “It lends itself to a 40 percent decline in electricity use and it will be cheaper,” Marshall concluded.

Lloyd C. Blankfein, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, said “passion” drove the global investment banking, securities and investment management firm to finance The Bradford. “We do a lot in finance in New York and around the world and there’s one constant theme in what we look for in places where we invest and we have that here to a very great extent,” said Blankfein. “And, that is passion. The people who are involved have a real passion for their community, a passion for their families and a passion for the world they inhabit to make it a better place.”

Carver Bancorp CEO Deborah Wright is passionate about empowering Brooklyn residents. When she realized that Carver could not use the public money it had won in new market tax credits, she reached out to Goldman Sachs to see if they were investing in any projects that could benefit from the money. “It worked out” for The Bradford, she said.

Julian Phillip, communications strategist for Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns, whose 10th Congressional District of New York includes Bedford Stuyvesant, said, “It’s a good thing to see people who are disfranchised have an opportunity to grab onto the American Dream, which otherwise would not have been afforded to them it if were not for projects like this.”

Of the 105 rental units in The Bradford, 21 will go to families of four who do not make more than 30 percent of the Area Median Income of $23,760; 32 will go to a family of four making $99,000 or 125 percent AMI; and 51 will be reserved for a family of four making $102,960 or 130 percent AMI. The remaining units may be rented to families of four who make up to 160 percent AMI or $126,720.

“A lot of developers play fast and loose with the term ‘affordable housing,’” said Councilman Al Vann of Bedford Stuyvesant. “Meredith [Marshall] took consideration of the community and the AMI that’s a part of this community, not citywide. The affordable housing here is affordable to the people who live in this community.”