Forsyth Street Affordable Housing
We provide our clients with in-depth analyses of applicable regulations and financing programs, rigorous modeling of alternative financing structures, and guidance through each stage of project execution. This includes fully exploring available options and executing complicated financing transactions with multiple sources of debt, equity and subsidy for both preservation and new construction projects.
Section 8 Recapitalization
Mixed Income Programs and Tax Exemption Compliance
202 Restructuring
RAD Conversions
LIHTC - New Construction and Refinancing
Selected Transactions
PRC Fox Street
In December 2016, Forsyth assisted Property Resources Corporation (PRC) and Camber Property Group in closing two new mixed-income buildings through HPD’s Mix & Match Program in the Longwood neighborhood of the Bronx. The 200-unit, $68 million development was constructed on two underutilized parking lots on a PRC Section 8 development. By offering housing to a range of homeless, low and moderate income households, the new development helped to stabilize the community. Forsyth advised on the financing comprised of tax exempt bonds issued by HDC, 4% low income housing tax credits and subsidy loans from HDC and HPD.
1490 Southern Blvd
1490 Southern Boulevard is a new construction 100% low income senior development in the Crotona Park East neighborhood of the Bronx that closed on construction financing in December of 2018. Type A Projects, an emerging WBE developer, was awarded the site through HPD’s Building Opportunity M/WBE RFP in 2016. The project will offer 114 units of senior housing and a community service facility, with resident support services to be provided by the Jewish Association Serving the Aging (JASA) with a goal of fostering community within the building upon completion. Forsyth assisted Type A Projects in financing the project with tax exempt bonds, 4% low income housing tax credits, and subsidy loans from HDC and HPD through the Senior Affordable Rental Apartments (SARA) Program. In addition, the project secured $4 million in grant proceeds from the Borough President and Enterprise Community Partners. The total development cost of the project is approximately $64 million.
East Village Houses
In October 2019, Forsyth assisted Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) in closing on a construction loan for a 45 unit mixed-income development on a City-owned infill lot through HPD’s Neighborhood Construction Program (NCP) on East 2nd Street in Manhattan’s East Village. The $28.5 million project was financed with 9% Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits, an NCP loan from HPD and conventional construction financing provided by the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF). East Village Homes will serve a wide variety of income groups from formerly homeless families to low, moderate and middle income households in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood.
Municipal Housing Authority for the City of Yonkers (MHACY) Public Housing Redevelopment
Forsyth has assisted in the redevelopment of over 900 units of Yonkers public housing between 2017 and 2020 through HUD’s RAD and Section 18 programs. Forsyth worked with both the Municipal Housing Authority of Yonkers (MHACY) and its local development affiliate the Mulford Corporation to self-develop four separate public housing developments over three financial closings. Forsyth also assisted the Property Resources Corporation in the joint venture redevelopment of a fifth MHACY site. The four financial closings utilized New York State HFA tax exempt bonds, 4% low income housing tax credits, and Public Housing Preservation funds to rehabilitate and refinance the properties. The total development cost for these projects was approximately $275 million collectively.
Cohoes
70 Delaware Avenue, Cohoes is a new construction project on a waterfront site on Van Schaick Island in New York’s capital region. The project closed on construction financing in July of 2020 and includes 92 units of both permanent supportive housing and affordable units, as well as a commercial component. Forsyth assisted the development team, a joint venture of White Birch Development and the Prime Companies, to close on financing comprised of New York State HFA provided tax exempt bonds, 4% low income housing tax credits, Supportive Housing Opportunity Program (SHOP) subsidy, and Middle Income Housing Program (MIHP) subsidy. The project has a total development cost of over $20 million.
Ocean Bay
In December of 2016, Forsyth was part of the team that successfully converted Ocean Bay Apartments, a 1,395 unit development in Far Rockaway Queens, to HUD’s RAD program, the first public housing development in New York City to make such a transition. Forsyth assisted RDC, a joint venture of MDG Design and Construction and The Wavecrest Management Team, along with NYCHA in financing the project with tax exempt bonds and 4% low income housing tax credits provided by the New York State HFA. The project also utilized over $200 million of FEMA funds in a novel combination of mixed finance sources in order to aid in the site’s recovery from Superstorm Sandy. The transformational rehabilitation project included a wide variety of resiliency and efficiency measures such as flood walls, new electric service to the buildings, and one of the largest solar panel installations in the county. The total development cost of the project was over $500 million.
Cooper Square
In February 2019, Forsyth assisted JASA in refinancing Cooper Square, a 150 unit HUD 202 senior building in the East Village in Manhattan. As part of the transaction, Cooper Square received a new tax abatement under Article XI of the Private Housing Finance Law and refinanced its existing debt through a new HUD 223(f) FHA insured mortgage. The total development cost of the project was approximately $50 million, including significant loan proceeds to JASA for social services and housing development purposes as well as funds for building repairs and renovation.
Team
Aileen Gribbin
Aileen Gribbin, a Partner at Forsyth since 2007, has over 30 years of experience in the affordable housing and community development field, including positions with government agencies, not-for-profit development organizations and the nation’s first affordable housing REIT. Since joining Forsyth, she has been a development and financial advisor on over $3 billion in affordable housing development and preservation transactions for a broad range of both for-profit and not-for-profit clients.
Prior to joining Forsyth, she was an Associate Commissioner with the NYC Department of Housing, Preservation & Development where she was responsible for the executive management of the agency’s Division of Housing Finance.
Aileen has a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance from the New York University Stern School of Business, a Master of Urban Planning degree in Housing Policy from Hunter College of the City University of New York and a Bachelor of Science degree in Resource Economics from Cornell University. Ms. Gribbin is currently on the Board of Citizen’s Housing and Planning Council, NYSAFAH and Westbeth Corp. HDFC.
President, Affordable Housing
Chuck Brass
Charles Brass has more than 40 years of experience in housing development and finance. At Forsyth Street, Mr. Brass provides consulting services to both for-profit and not-for-profit developers seeking to develop affordable and mixed income housing.
Since joining Forsyth Street in 2009, he has helped structure financings for more than 15,000 new and rehabilitated apartments. Prior to 2009, he was Executive VP for Development at Atlantic Development Group, where he brought 2,000 units and several hundred thousand square feet of commercial and community space to construction. From 2003-06 Mr. Brass served as Senior VP for CPC Resources developing and preserving affordable housing properties in New York City and State. For most of the prior two decades, Mr. Brass held various positions at the New York City Housing Development Corporation, including president from 2002-03, where he created many of the HDC Programs that comprised the City’s New Market Housing Place Plan. During his tenure, he was responsible for designing and implementing various financing programs that resulted in the creation of more than 20,000 units of affordable housing.
Mr. Brass worked at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development from 1981-84 where he worked in both its Policy/Intergovernmental Relations and Development divisions.
He was a member of the Board of the National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies from 1988-2003 and President of NALHFA from 1993-96. He currently serves on the Executive Board of Settlement Housing Fund and previously was on the board of the New York Hosing Conference.
He has also served as an adjunct professor in Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation.
He is a graduate of SUNY at Binghamton and holds a Masters of Arts in History from UNC - Chapel Hill where he also completed all his required class work for a Masters in Regional Planning.
Senior Advisor, Affordable Housing
Peter Beck
Peter Beck, Managing Director at Forsyth Street, has over 20 years of experience in real estate finance and development consulting. Mr. Beck works in the firm’s Affordable Housing group, where he advises private and not-for-profit landlords and developers on the construction, rehabilitation, and acquisition and refinancing of housing using tax-exempt bonds, tax credits, project-based Section 8 subsidy, and other forms of governmental assistance, along with private and conventional financing sources.
He has been involved in structuring numerous Low Income Housing Tax Credit transactions, together representing over $1 billion in total development cost. Mr. Beck has also advised clients on financing student housing, military housing, non-profit community facilities and mixed-income “80/20” developments, and has provided assistance to developers in obtaining zoning approvals for large scale residential development. Mr. Beck’s experience at Forsyth Street also includes financing real estate projects through the capital markets. He has provided underwriting, financial analysis and due diligence support for financial institutions on projects financed through tax-increment finance (TIF) bonds and other forms of structured finance.
Prior to joining Forsyth Street in 2003, Mr. Beck spent 5 years as a financial and management consultant with Hamilton, Rabinovitz & Alschuler, Inc., specializing in public-private development and affordable housing. Mr. Beck has a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from Columbia University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Managing Director, Affordable Housing
Amy Chandra
Amy is a Managing Director with Forsyth Street Affordable Housing and has over 12 years of experience in real estate finance and development. Ms. Chandra works in the firm’s affordable housing practice, where she advises private and not-for-profit developers on the construction, rehabilitation, and acquisition and refinancing of housing using tax-exempt bonds, tax credits, project-based Section 8 subsidy, and other forms of governmental assistance, along with private and conventional financing sources.
She has extensive experience in State and City permanent loan conversions for multifamily affordable, NYCHA PACT, and senior housing projects. In her role, she has helped close and/or convert new construction and preservation transactions totaling over 13,000 units.
Her earlier role was primarily in the firm’s Fund Management and Renewable Energy divisions. She assisted in the administration of funds that finance property acquisitions in New York City and Los Angeles as well as the restructuring of a complex international microfinance fund program that offered microloans to women in Tanzania and Uganda. She further provided qualitative and quantitative analyses on the firm’s renewable energy partnerships. Ms. Chandra holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Wesleyan University.
Managing Director, Affordable Housing
Olga Jobe
Olga Jobe, Senior Vice President at Forsyth Street, has over twenty years of experience in the financing and development of supportive housing, senior housing and affordable housing in New York City. Ms. Jobe has closed on more than $600 million in financing for affordable projects ranging in size from 60 units to 263 units. Her career began as an associate at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP working on private equity transactions, mergers and acquisitions before returning to graduate school to pursue a M.S. in in Real Estate Development from Columbia University.
Prior to joining Forsyth Street in 2022, she has held management positions at Breaking Ground, Comunilife, Inc. and Habitat for Humanity New York City. Ms. Jobe has earned an B.A. from New York University, a J.D. from Fordham University and a M.S. from Columbia University.
Senior Vice President, Affordable Housing
Amina Amer
Amina joined Forsyth Street Affordable Housing in 2022. She supports the affordable housing team and assists developers with underwriting, financial analysis, and due diligence for the rehabilitation and new construction of affordable housing. Additionally, Amina leads the construction monitoring process for clients by compiling, analyzing, and submitting monthly construction requisitions. In her role, Amina has aided to close transactions totaling over $212 million and 210 units.
Amina holds a M.S. in Real Estate Development from Columbia University and a B.S. in Architectural Engineering from the American University in Cairo.
Senior Associate, Affordable Housing
Kamu Kakizaki
Kamu is a Senior Associate with Forsyth Street Affordable Housing and joined the firm in 2023. He works on analyzing deal structures and underwriting scenarios with 4% and 9% tax credits, bond financing, City and State subsidies, and other forms of governmental assistance along with conventional financing sources. He also supports the development process with monthly requisitions and securing funds through Request for Proposal (RFP) applications on affordable housing projects including a focus on supportive housing.
Prior to working in real estate finance, Kamu was a registered architect and project manager with 10 years' experience in design and construction. He holds a Masters degree in Real Estate Development from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of Washington.
Senior Associate, Affordable Housing
Meghan Turville
Meghan joined Forsyth in 2018 and has over fifteen years’ experience as an assistant, administrator and office manager. Her responsibilities include revenue and collections, office, HR, and operations management, and administration across all divisions as well as administrative support to the company’s Chairman/CEO. Meghan also provides support for Forsyth Street Renewables and Asset Management team’s operations.
Meghan received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and Administration from Berkeley College in NYC.
Senior Associate for Operations