300 Putnam Avenue

Bridge Street brings a dying building back to life

“Last summer, for the first time in 15 years, we finally got a permit to have our block party,” says Michelle Agins, co-president of the Putnam Avenue Block Association. The reason homeowners couldn’t agree to hold a block party sooner, she says, was fear of violent crime at 300 Putnam Avenue, a distressed, Section 8 property in the middle of the block. This six-story, 52-unit, partially occupied apartment complex was abandoned by its owner in 2005.

“This summer, the party’s on for August 7,” says Agins. “I’m running around this morning putting leaflets on doors—including the doors at 300 Putnam.”

Many things have changed at 300 Putnam Avenue since September 2006, when Bridge Street Development Corporation (BSDC) was appointed 7A Administrator for the building by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). In 2008, BSDC bought 300 Putnam in a HUD auction and has spent the past 18 months securing and renovating the building.

“You can have guests now, you can invite anyone here. We haven’t been able to do that for years,” says tenant Felix Roberts, who has lived in the building for 35 years. “Now everyone who shows up says, ‘Wow! Look at this building! It’s the showcase of the block,’” he reports. “Hats off to Rhonda Lewis and Angela Stokes and the entire Bridge Street staff! They dedicated themselves to bringing this building back to life.”

“We took on this project as part of our overall strategy for preserving affordable housing in the area,” says Bridge Street President and CEO Rhonda A. Lewis. “The building was the hub of criminal activity on the block, and the block itself is a critical part of the neighborhood that we’ve been working to revitalize.” A block away on Jefferson Avenue, BSDC has redeveloped 11 brownstones for new homeowners and has made Jefferson Avenue part of its model block project.

The challenges of 300 Putnam: size, complexity, abandonment

“Such large apartment buildings don’t usually come into our 7A program,” says HPD’s Adrice Miles, “because they have so many rent-paying tenants, they don’t fail.” But its owner had abandoned 300 Putnam. “It came in differently—it came into HUD,” Miles points out. “It was actually the first HUD building to come into our 7A program and the second-largest building to come into us from HUD.”

Many housing professionals were skeptical that anyone could rescue a building as big and as troubled as 300 Putnam. “It was a very hard building to help because of it size and its problems—and its problems were compounded by its size,” says Miles, who became HPD’s 7A representative for the building. But local elected officials and HPD were determined to find a not-for-profit development corporation that could take over 300 Putnam, bring it back to life, and preserve its 52 apartments as affordable housing. They found the solution in Bridge Street.

Restoring basic services and securing the building

When Bridge Street took over, residents had been living for more than a year in deplorable conditions: no heat, no running water, no gas for cooking, and no elevator service in the six-story building. The entire building was in disrepair. When the heat was shut off (for lack of payment by the owner), the water pipes burst, damaging ceilings, walls and floors. Windows were broken throughout the building, and doors were missing at outside entrances and on some apartments.

In addition to physical deterioration, two notorious drug dealers were working out of 300 Putnam. Tenants were terrified, and residents of the block didn’t want to walk past the building. Says Michelle Agins, “That summer I remember walking by 300 Putnam on two or three occasions and seeing dead bodies.”

Agins organized a block association meeting and invited people from the District Attorney’s office and the NYPD’s 79th Precinct. “300 Putnam was always at the top of our agenda,” she says. “But this meeting was really helpful because the police and the DA’s people actually gave out their phone numbers and said, ‘If this happens, do this. If that happens, do that.’ It restored folks’ faith in the NYPD and law enforcement agencies.”

A coordinated effort was needed to stabilize the building. Regular police patrols were not enough to eliminate crime at 300 Putnam. BSDC formed critical partnerships with the residents, the NYPD’s 79th Precinct, Wavecrest Property Management, and Nature’s Finest Security (specialist in securing distressed buildings.)

Engaging and empowering residents

Involving the residents at 300 Putnam Avenue has been just as important as securing the building. In 2009, BSDC hired community organizer Angela Stokes to work with the residents throughout the redevelopment process. “It was something I’d never seen in my life,” says Stokes, who had 22 years of corrections experience. “I’d never seen it this bad, with people living in these conditions. I told Rhonda that I’d need to be here every day.”

When BSDC began relocating tenants within the building, in order to start construction, tenants did not believe that it would only be temporary. Stokes tried to counter the mistrust by making herself available to tenants six days a week. “I started immediately working very long hours,” she recalls. “This was when you could walk through the holes in the walls of the building. Rats were running around. But I had to overcome those obstacles to reach the people.”

Construction was going on, and Stokes started relocating tenants within the building. “But I spent a lot of time getting to know people and building trust,” she says. “Honesty is key. If something couldn’t be done, I’d tell them exactly why it couldn’t be done.”

“When Angela came, we were full of anger and mistrust, and she brought calm,” says Vivian Cherry, a resident of 300 Putnam for 17 years. “She talked with us, not at us. When people talk at you or talk down to you, it’s really hard to listen with an open ear.” Gradually, BSDC won residents’ trust, both because of Angela Stokes’s work and “because we always do what we say we will do,” says Rhonda A. Lewis. That spoke volumes to the tenants, who originally felt that they had been abandoned.

Before, during, and after the renovation, BSDC worked hard to include tenants in the process. “Strategically, we wanted the tenants to be part of the renovation,” says Rhonda A. Lewis, “so they will take pride in the building and become stewards for the property.” Ron Freeman, a new tenant, couldn’t agree more. “Whether you’ve lived here two weeks—like me—or twenty years, this building is a brand new experience for all of us,” he says. “When you walk in, you see newly painted hallways, bright colors, a new elevator. It’s clean and beautiful.”

Freeman firmly believes that “there’s no reason the building can’t stay this way if we all start taking care of it now.” How does he intend to do that? “I plan to become very active in whatever associations I can join in the building, on the block, and in the neighborhood.” Once all tenants have moved into 300 Putnam, Bridge Street plans to help them form a new tenants association that will include all tenants, old and new.

One of the first projects tenants got involved in was planting flower beds adjacent to the building. In 2007, long-time tenant Vivian Cherry felt empowered enough to write to A Million Trees for New York City. “I asked for two trees—and they donated 12!” she says. “I was like, ‘They listened to me!’ That was before construction started. So it was really nice to see those trees go in because they were a sign of hope.”

The centerpiece of the new garden is an abstract limestone sculpture, Sanjo by Bradford Graves, donated by JPMorgan Chase. The garden will also feature drought-resistant plants, which reflect the eco-friendly theme of the building. This property will also be the first multiple dwelling in Bedford-Stuyvesant to have solar panels on the roof. Additional green features include Energy Star-rated appliances and energy-conserving lighting and windows throughout the building.

What’s next for 300 Putnam?

For Angela Stokes, the priorities are education, job-readiness workshops, and community-building. Also key, she points out, is teaching residents how to care for their newly renovated apartments, “there is so much we need to teach.” She has been holding job-readiness workshops to teach tenants how to write a resume, search for jobs on the internet, and prepare for job interviews. She also plans to help them form the new tenants association, continue participating in the Block Association, and build stronger ties to the wider Bedford-Stuyvesant community.

For Charles McVey, co-president of the block association, who grew up on the block and has lived there half his life, the transformation of 300 Putnam is a breakthrough for the block and the neighborhood. “We’re on an upward trajectory. If we can maintain the momentum, we should do very well,” he says. “My personal wishlist for the future is to build relationships between owners and renters, to empower us to do things to benefit all the residents of the block.”

As someone who knew the block before 300 Putnam was even built, McVey believes that the most important task ahead is building a sense of community, “I hope that somehow, over time, we can bring back a sense of community and connection to our little space called Putnam Avenue.”