NEW YORK CITY—The first project under Mayor Bill de Blasio's $350-million program to finance affordable apartments for low-income seniors in the city broke ground on Thursday in the Far Rockaway section of Queens.

The $70.8-million Beach Channel Senior Apartments project when completed in 2017 will be 100% affordable and will feature 154 low-income senior apartments, including 46 units for formerly homeless seniors. The project is being developed by the Arker Companies of Floral Park, NY.

The Senior Affordable Rental Apartments program, part of Mayor de Blasio's Housing New York plan, will enable seniors to qualify to rent at the Beach Channel project who earn less than $36,300 per year. Under the senior affordable program, the city intends to build and preserve 10,000 affordable apartments for seniors over the next 10 years.

“Our seniors helped build our neighborhoods through thick and thin, and we are fighting to make sure they can stay in the communities they love. Beach Channel is the first of many projects we're undertaking to build and protect affordable homes for our seniors, and make sure this remains a city for everyone,” says Mayor de Blasio.

Beach Channel Senior Apartments is a brownfield site that from the 1930s through the mid 1980s was home to an automobile service and gas filling station. The site will be remediated and cleaned up, according to city officials. The senior development will also feature 4,500-square-feet of ground floor commercial space, 4,500-square-feet of community space and 25 parking spaces.

The New York City Housing, Preservation & Development is providing $11.5 million in funding and the New York City Housing Development Corp. has provided $38.5 million in tax-exempt bonds for the construction financing, which is enhanced by a letter of credit provided by Wells Fargo, and $8.47 million in subsidy under the Extremely Low & Low Affordability program. The project anticipates a total of $31.3 million in tax credit equity will be provided by Wells Fargo.