About Us

The IBEC Development Team has its roots in Fort Greene beginning in the early 1980's and has established a record of successful and pioneering projects in the neighborhood. Of notable achievement was the historic rehabilitation of a turn of the century apartment building (The Portland) at the corner of South Portland Avenue and Fulton Street in 1985. This 45 unit, $3.5 million development spurred the revival of Fulton Street in the vicinity of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. In 1988, the Development Team was awarded a large scattered site in Prospect Heights/Crown Heights under the auspices of HPD's Vacant Building Program. The rehabilitation of 146 units of low and moderate income housing in 25 buildings was completed in two phases in 1990 and 1992 in partnership with Nikos Kefalidis of KLM Construction, Inc.

In 1998, the Development Team, in partnership with John Frezza of Strategic Construction Corp., embarked on the $14 million rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the Clermont Avenue Armory in Fort Greene. Completed in 2000 with bond financing from HDC's New Housing Opportunities Program (NHOP) the Clermont Armory Towers consists of 111 apartments targeted to middle income New Yorkers. A Charter School and a 110 car indoor parking garage were also included. Its proximity to Myrtle Avenue provided a powerful boost to the successes of the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project (MARP). The building was selected as the best in the residential category in the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce's Building Brooklyn Awards in 2001.

In the fall of 2001 The Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) issued an RFP for some vacant parcels along Schermerhorn Street in Downtown Brooklyn. These parcels were part of the Schermerhorn-Pacific Urban Renewal Area. Once again, the Development Team joined forces with John Frezza of Strategic Construction Corp. to submit a winning proposal for one of these parcels known as Site B and bounded by Schermerhorn, Hoyt, Bond and State Streets.

Ideally situated within half a mile of Fort Greene The project calls for the construction of an apartment building along Schermerhorn Street containing 158 rental units (Phase I) and up to 45 market rate town house condominium units along State Street (Phase II). The rental units were financed with Tax Exempt Bonds issued by the NYC Housing Development Corporation under the auspices of HDC's 20/80-New Housing Opportunities Program. 30% of the units are targeted to low and moderate income households as required by the Urban Renewal Plan. An additional 20% of the units are targeted to middle income households, and the remaining 50% at market rents. The Bonds are credit enhanced by Freddie Mac. The total projected development cost is $47 million for Phase I and $15 million for Phase II. Phase I of the project is currently in construction with completion expected in the Spring of 2007. Citibank Community Development Corp is providing the construction loan. Phase II will commence in January 2008 with completion projected for January 2009.