PACC Talk July 2009

On Thursday, June 11th, dozens of entrepreneurs toured over 16 available commercial properties on Central Fulton Street as part of the Pratt Area Community Council's "Rolling-Up the Gates" Storefront Open House. This exciting event provided prospective businesses with the opportunity to view many available spaces at once while also providing property owners with a large pool of prospective tenants.

To kick off the event, a welcome reception was held from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm that allowed property owners and potential businesses to network with each other while also hearing presentations on small business resources and the strength of the local retail market. Presentations were given by Larisa Ortiz Associates, NYC Business Solutions, Capital One Bank, JP Morgan Chase, and ACCION USA. The main focus of the event was the self-guided tour of available properties, which began after the reception and ran to 7:30 pm. During this time, prospective tenants were provided with maps and property specifications and were invited to visit 16 retail-ready available spaces on Central Fulton Street, from Flatbush to Bedford Avenues. The owners of these spaces rolled-up their gates during this time and were available during the day to meet prospective tenants and discuss possible lease terms.

Local artists also enlivened several vacant storefronts during this event by converting the vacant spaces into 1-day art galleries and performance spaces for passers-by to enjoy. Coordinated by the Julia Kito Kirtley Art Collective, these installations combined paintings, fashion, music and dance to invite visitors into the spaces and present different interpretations of the space's potential. Examples of these installations included two galleries of paintings by Brand US, at 1110 and 1096 Fulton Street, and "Raw: Communication through Abstract Forms," an art and fashion gallery by Julia Kito Kirtley at 936 Fulton Street that remained in the space through the month of June.

Because of the strong amount of interest in this event, PACC plans to hold an additional Storefront Open House in the fall and invite organizations from surrounding corridors to participate as well. "We see our Open House on Thursday as a pilot project that created a strong foundation to make this a regular event," says PACC's Director of Economic Development, Dale Charles. "We are excited to continue working with property owners, real estate brokers, and entrepreneurs to reduce the commercial vacancy rate on Central Fulton Street and ensure that its retail mix fully reflects the pride and diversity of the community."

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July 10, 2009, PACC , Councilman Al Vann, BP Marty Markowitz, future Homeowners, project lenders and the development team  cut the ribbon at a 'green' 34-unit affordable cooperative in Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn. The Cooperative is located at 566 Gates Avenue between Tompkins and Throop Avenues. After the Ribbon cutting, attendees and elected officials were treated to cake donated by Desserts by Michael Allen then led on a tour of the brand new building.

Duane Cornish, a lifelong Brooklynite and resident on Fulton Street for the past three years stated, "I saw the neighborhood turning around and was looking to buy, this looked like a great opportunity when the lottery came up and I got lucky!" PACC marketed the building in fall   2008 and selected the homeowners via a lottery supervised by HPD. Over 2000 families applied with the hopes of becoming one of 34 new cooperative owners. (The 5-story cooperative building has 24 two-bedroom and 10 one-bedroom apartments for low- and moderate-income households, with unit prices ranging from $87,000 to $167,000. a percentage of the units have been set aside for municipal employees and those with disabilities.

This green design project, built on a formerly vacant city-owned lot, will earn an Energy Star label for the entire building through a new program of U.S. EPA and NYSERDA. The project was funded through monies from several government agencies including NYC HPD which provided a $1.76 million subsidy and NYC HDC which provided $2.96 million. An additional $1.18 million in financing came from the NYS AHC via the Housing Partnership Development Corporation and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz's office provided $250,000. JPMorgan Chase provided the $4.35 million construction loan.
 
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said, "Bravo to PACC. As an affordable housing advocate since my earliest days in public life, I can say with complete confidence that the Gates Cooperative is exactly the kind of development Brooklyn and New York City needs right now."

more photos , coverage and info 

Meet Our Newly Elected Board Members!

On the morning of June 24th PACC held its Annual Meeting at Gibb Mansion where PACC members successfully elected Jabir Saluki, Lincoln Restler and Tom Eastman to its Board of Directors!

Jabir Suluki has lived in Clinton Hill for most of his life. He is an active member of PLG: PACC's Leadership Group attending rallies, doing outreach and testifying at hearings. He also volunteers at the Emergency Food Pantry at on Classon Avenue. Jabir first became involved with PACC in 1992 when our staff assisted his building to become a limited equity cooperative through HPD's Tenant Interim Lease program. Since moving back, Jabir has been the Treasurer of his building and taken many of the courses offered by HPD and UHAB in Building Management and is a recent graduate of the SUNY- Brooklyn Educational Opportunity Center. 

Tom Eastman, VP for Enterprise Community Investment, Inc. manages acquisitions activity through most of the United States through Enterprise's core line of business, syndicating affordable rental housing transactions. He analyzes, evaluates and bids on affordable housing investment opportunities, presents  proposals to Enterprise's Investment Committee and coordinates transaction closings.  

Lincoln Restler is a Brooklyn native and Fort Greene resident. He currently serves as a program officer at the Office of Financial Empowerment, which is an anti-poverty initiative housed at the Department of Consumer Affairs. Lincoln has previously worked at the Mayor's Office of Comprehensive Neighborhood Economic. Development Lincoln is hands on with a number of city and local organizations: Community Board 2, on which he is also a member of the Land-Use and Economic Development Committees, Fort Greene Association, Brooklyn for Peace, Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE),   New Kings Democrats   and a founding member of Brooklyn Vanguard, which supports the Brooklyn Public Library system. 

After the election, Keith Getter, PACC's Treasurer and management consultant for NeighborWorks America, and Benjamin Dulchin, Executive Director of ANHD lead a lively discussion on the importance of keeping community during the financial crisis.

PACC is a membership based non profit organization. To become a member email us or call 718-522-2613 x 22

PACC's Housing Fair at Concord Baptist Church

On the evening of June 22nd PACC Home Services Department hosted a homeowner/homebuyer fair at Concord Baptist Church. Sponsored by Capital One and State Farm Insurance, the focus of this event was to educate first time home buyers and current home owners on purchasing and maintaining their home. The event drew approximately two hundred local residents and dozens of vendors comprised of local businesses and city agencies geared toward homeownership, financial literacy and foreclosure intervention.

In addition to traditional informational booths, PACC facilitated break out sessions where instructors spoke to groups of 25 or so people on common purchasing and ownership issues. Yvette Monteith and Maria Pedrazza of HSBC gave courses on Credit and Finance and The Home Buying Process while PACC's Homeowner Counselor Bonita Dowling and Foreclosure Counselor Stephan Dookeeram gave information on Repair Grants and Loans and How to avoid Foreclosure. As the evening came to a close Pat Julien, our Director of  Home Services   encouraged the attendees to attend the First the Home Buyer and Financial Literacy courses that PACC offers throughout the year.