Affordable Housing
Community Facilities
Greater Universal CDC
FWI developed a proposal for the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD)'s Cornerstone initiative. The proposal incorporated a partnership between Greater Universal CDC, a second local CDC, and FWI to purchase city-owned land on a two-block tract between 153rd and 155th Streets, and bordered on either side by Park and Morris Avenues, in the Bronx, New York.
Greater Universal Baptist Church the parent company of Greater Universal CDC operates its congregational facilities out of a Church building on adjoining land. The proposal entailed creating 190 units of residential housing on the City-Owned land, which would include a mix of affordable condominium apartments, rental units, commercial space and additional space for community functions associated with the Church. The project was budgeted at $40 million. The aforementioned partnership would serve as the developers, marketers and community sponsors. Loan commitments for the financing of this major project were identified from Fleet Bank, the Bank of New York, and the Fannie Mae Corporation. The project proposal was an innovative strategic approach to incorporate mixed income housing into an underserved community.
