NEW YORK CITY-An East Harlem housing complex will be preservedas affordable for the next 40 years, GlobeSt.com has learned.Preservation Development Partners, a joint ventureof developers Donald Capoccia, Joseph Ferrara, BrandonBaron, Francine Kellman and BrianRaddock, completed the rehabilitation of East RiverApartments, a 179-unit multifamily apartment complex in UpperManhattan.

The apartment complex, located at 109-125 E. 130^thStreet, consists of five elevator-equipped buildings. According todata from Real Capital Analytics, PreservationPartners acquired the complex in January 2012 from sellerTricham Housing Associates LP for $36 million.

Kellman tells GlobeSt.com that the seller at the time waslooking to sell to a regular rental operation, and that would havetaken the property out of Section 8. “It’s very important to us totry and preserve as much Section 8 in the city as we can,” shesays. “So much of it has been lost, especially in Manhattan. A lotof the properties several years ago went out of Section 8 and tookadvantage of the high prices, so there really isn’t too much left.It was really important for us to maintain the affordability,stabilize the community and stabilize the property. It is a living,breathing entity, these buildings, and that’s the way we look atit. We work with the tenants, we work with the surrounding area, wework with the nonprofits and with government as well.”