How a Former Hospital Campus will Advance NY Housing Goals

_{Rendering of Kingsland Commons 2 provided by The Hudson Companies}

Kingsland Commons Building 2 broke ground in September, marking the next chapter in a 42-year effort to develop Brooklyn’s Greenpoint Hospital site. Multiple stakeholders provided input on the new land use – including the local community, New York City elected officials and City agencies. The historic hospital campus, which has been unoccupied since 1982, sits on 3.4 acres of land, or roughly the size of 2.5 football fields. 

The Hudson Companies and St. Nicks Alliance are leading the multi-phased redevelopment with construction led by Broadway Builders. Once complete, the campus will include workforce and affordable housing, a new office for St. Nicks Alliance, and community services space. There will also be a homeless shelter on the campus. 

Kingsland Commons 2 will include 311 permanently affordable housing units for households making between 30% and 80% of area median income and set aside 93 units for formerly unhoused individuals and families.

“In transforming a historic former hospital campus into a vibrant community of affordable housing, retail, and community services, Kingsland Commons is a prime example of what our city needs more of–developments that not only provide homes but make a positive impact on the neighborhood for generations to come,” said Ernesto Padron, Development Director of Hudson Companies. 

Beyond the four walls of the property, St. Nicks Alliance will provide social services to residents including onsite case management, behavioral health counseling, and programming to increase education, benefits assistance, and job placement services. Residents will also receive free broadband internet.

To help finance the redevelopment, Capital One deployed several capital sources including participation in a tax-exempt bond credit enhancement letter of credit and a tax credit equity investment. Capital One also provided St. Nicks a loan and grants to help fund predevelopment expenses. 

Ed Delany, senior director of Community Finance at Capital One, said that given the size and scope of the redevelopment, the financing structure was complex and leveraged multiple federal and state programs. 

Specifically, the financing included three types of tax credits:

• Low income housing tax credits are used for the construction and/or renovation of an affordable housing property and require a percentage of the property’s units to be rent-restricted.

• New York State Brownfield tax credits are allocated to developers cleaning up and redeveloping sites that may have been contaminated by hazardous materials.

• Federal energy tax credits are allocated to developers based on energy efficiency metrics, and appliances or materials used in development. 

“Kingsland Commons 2 demonstrates the power of our financing capabilities in advancing affordable housing goals,” said Delany. “This development has the ability to impact an entire neighborhood, not to mention countless lives of individuals and families who will benefit from the affordable housing, resident services and community space.”

Over the course of nearly two decades, Capital One has provided debt and equity investments through the low income housing tax credit program on properties financed through the NYC Housing Development Corporation, the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the New York State Housing Finance Agency, and the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal programs. Between 2020-2023, Capital One provided more than $2.1 billion in community development financing in the New York City market alone. The vast majority of this financing has brought affordable, high-quality housing to thousands of New Yorkers across the five boroughs.