Yonkers, NY (February 21, 2013) – Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano will officially announce the completion of the new $14 Million Warburton Garage at a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday February 22, 2013. The development was financed as a Public Private Partnership with $3.8 million in tax-exempt bonds, $4.0 million in municipal grants, a $2.7 million taxable mortgage and $3.5 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) equity from Solomon Hess CDE in partnership with Goldman Sachs, Yonkers Industrial Development Agency, Yonkers EDC, Hudson Valley Bank and the National Development Council (NDC).
The Warburton Garage, is one part of a continuing revitalization effort to attract residential and small business investment in downtown Yonkers. The 300 space garage will serve area small businesses as well as tenants of the adjacent iPark commercial, industrial and research complex and visitors to the Yonkers Public Library. The garage will set aside 78 spaces for use by residents of the adjacent Warburton Riverview Apartments, a new workforce housing development financed in part with Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits and City HOME funds.
“The revitalization of downtown Yonkers would not be complete without this newly constructed and efficient parking facility that now will house vehicles of those who choose to live, work and raise a family in Yonkers,” said Mayor Mike Spano. “The Warburton Garage is a symbol of the great change occurring in Yonkers. We give special thanks to the National Development Council, our State delegation, the Yonkers IDA, the Yonkers Planning & Development Department and the City Engineer for making this project a success for the City.”
“Downtown Yonkers is undergoing an exciting revitalization which is taking our City to new heights,” said Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Democratic Conference Leader (D/I/WF – 35th District). “This new parking garage will spur further growth by drawing more people to downtown Yonkers’ great restaurants and businesses, historic Phillipse Manor Hall, the beautiful Hudson riverfront and of course the newly daylighted Saw Mill River at Van Der Donck Park. New York State is proud to be a key partner in Yonkers’ revitalization.”
“This attractive parking garage made it possible to preserve the Philipse Manor Historic District and allow for the adaptive reuse of the Warburton Lofts and the workforce housing on North Broadway,” said Chuck Lesnick, Yonkers City Council President. “It is unfortunate that the County walked away from its $2.5 Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) commitment but I am proud that City stepped forward to both lead the way and then fill the gap.”
A critical component of this comprehensive redevelopment initiative will be a new small business incubator and complementary loan fund. NDC, with the assistance of its affiliate The Grow America Fund, will be establishing a $2 million loan fund to support both existing small businesses and new small businesses drawn to downtown Yonkers by the garage development. The City expects these funds to assist both manufacturing and emerging technology companies and create over 75 new full-time jobs.
“NDC has worked in the City of Yonkers since 1999 assisting the City in structuring over $2.5 Billion in projects” said Robert W. Davenport, President of NDC “The City lacks adequate parking to support and sustain the downtown growth that has resulted from this investment. We are proud to partner with Solomon Hess, Goldman Sachs, and the City of Yonkers to create parking and support continuing revitalization efforts”
The ribbon cuttings will he held at the Warburton Avenue garage entrance, at the crossroads of Warburton Avenue and Dock Street, at 11:30am on February 22, 2013.
About National Development Council
The National Development Council (NDC) is the oldest national non-profit community and economic development organizations in the U.S. It was founded in 1969 with one purpose: increasing the flow of capital for investment, jobs and community development to under served urban and rural areas across the country. Since that time, NDC has worked with thousands of communities in every one of the 50 states and Puerto Rico, providing technical assistance, professional training, investment in affordable housing, small business financing and direct developer services. NDC has been using New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to support economic and community development since the program’s inception. NDC not only provides tax credit equity to our client communities, but also assists communities in structuring their NMTC deals, finding the necessary additional financing, and developing relationships with other organizations that receive allocations of the tax credits. To date NDC has invested over $587.6 million in 71 projects generating over $1 billion in total investment.
About the New Markets Tax Credit Program
The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program was established by Congress in 2000 to encourage the investment of private capital in designated low-income communities in order to create jobs, generate economic activity and improve the quality of services in low-income communities and to low-income persons. The NMTC Program attracts investment capital to low-income communities by permitting individual and corporate investors to receive a tax credit against their federal income tax return in exchange for making qualified equity investments in specialized financial institutions called Community Development Entities (CDEs). Capital raised by the CDEs is then used to provide below-market financing to qualified businesses in low-income communities. The credit totals 39 percent of the original investment amount and is claimed over a period of seven years.