Supportive Housing

Overview

Supportive housing provides affordable housing with on-site services for persons with special needs, including formerly homeless individuals, persons with mental illness or developmental disabilities, and formerly incarcerated individuals, among other populations. Pairing stable, affordable housing with supportive services enables these individuals and families in need to lead more productive lives.

Our attorneys are committed to helping ensure clients can successfully close on financing to build these critically important supportive housing developments. We understand the complexities of these transactions and have deep experience with structuring and financing these deals.

Representative experience

• 60 housing units for homeless veterans Closed a complex deal in which the U.S. Army, under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) process, transferred a site to the Town of Babylon, which then transferred the site to our client. The team helped the client acquire the site and develop the housing units. The deal involved at least six different funding sources, including 9% LIHTCs from New York State, funding from the State Office of Mental Health, a loan from Suffolk County, grant funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank, an equity investment by the National Equity Fund, and a construction loan from Bank of America, and two forms of rental assistance, including Shelter Plus Care units funded by HUD through the State Office of Substance Abuse Services and project-based Section 8 vouchers from New York State.
• Surf Vets Place, supportive housing development Represented a joint venture in the financing for this 134-unit supportive housing development, in Coney Island, Brooklyn. The financing for the $69 million project consists of tax-exempt bonds issued by the New York State HFA, a subsidy loan from HPD, a grant from NYSERDA, and debt service and capital support from the New York State Office of Mental Health, among other financing sources, which include LIHTCs, inclusionary housing bonus floor area, and construction financing. The project, which will dedicate 82 units for formerly homeless families and veterans, also received an inclusionary housing bonus.
• 200 units of affordable and supportive housing Represented a developer and a Brooklyn-based not-for-profit organization in a transaction to finance and construct in Coney Island, Brooklyn. The $83 million project is financed by tax-exempt bonds issued by the New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA), a subsidy loan from HFA, subordinate financing from the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, low-income housing tax credit equity, and operating and rental subsidy from the New York State Office of Mental Health through the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI). All of the units will be for tenants with household incomes at or below 60% of AMI, and 72 units will be reserved for homeless adults with serious mental health problems as well as individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
• Transformation of former Cunningham Carriage Factory into housing Represented the developer in the transformation of the building on Litchfield Street in Rochester, New York, into 71 apartment units, 39 of which house New York State Office of Mental Health clients. The project participated in the Brownfield Cleanup Program, which provided an additional source of equity from the syndication of brownfield tax credits generated from the project. Additional funding sources included LIHTC equity, HTC equity, a permanent loan from the Community Preservation Corporation, and subordinate funding from the New York State Housing Trust Fund Corporation, City of Rochester, Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, and a tax abatement with the City of Rochester.
• New construction of affordable and supportive housing units Represented developer in transaction involving three separate parcels in the Bronx that will include 138 affordable housing units, 41 of which will be supportive housing units funded through the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative. The $65 million project is financed by tax-exempt bonds issued by the New York State HFA, tax credits, subsidy loans from HFA and HPD, and project-based Section 8 vouchers.
• New construction of affordable units on nursing home site Represented a joint venture of a faith-based housing nonprofit and a faith-based health care nonprofit to build 89 units of affordable housing on the former nursing home site in the Bronx. The transaction included supportive services funding from the New York State Department of Health through the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI), as well as a project-based rental subsidy contract from the New York City Housing Authority, tax-exempt bonds issued by the New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA), and low-income housing tax credits and subordinate loans through HFA’s Supportive Housing Opportunity Program (SHOP) and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Senior Affordable Rental Apartments program.
• New construction of affordable units for low-income elderly and people with disabilities Represented the developer in the new construction transaction to develop 171 affordable housing units for low-income elderly and former Roosevelt Island Goldwater Hospital residents with physical disabilities in New York City. The building was constructed on a parcel owned by Metropolitan Hospital at 99th Street, and included the negotiation of a ground lease with the Health and Hospitals Corporation. The project combined tax-exempt financing, tax credits, and project-based Section 8 vouchers, as well as redirected Medicaid funding and was the first Medicaid Redesign Team project to close in New York State. Affordable Housing Finance named the project the “Best Supportive Housing Project” of 2015. Representation included preparation and negotiation of design and construction contracts.

Recognition

• Nixon Peabody has been named a Tier 1 National firm for Real Estate Law in the 2025 edition of Best Law Firms®.