Date: August 2025
Developer: Backyard (Coby Lefkowitz & Roee Gold)
Deal Type: Ground-up multifamily
Location: Kingston, NY
Summary
Overview:
43 new homes + 3 retail spaces in walkable downtown Kingston. A mix of affordable and market-rate units (80% blended AMI), designed to set a new standard for beauty and accessibility. Yield/returns achieved via state/county financing, dense typology, and off-site parking.
Business Plan:
- As-of-Right Entitlement: Under Kingston’s new form-based code (no parking minimums, simplified approvals).
- Construction: Stick-built, garden-style (courthouse townhomes); ~10% contingency hold
- Lease-Up: Conservative rents (1BR ~$1,168–$1,842 incl. utilities; market comps $2,100+).
- Hold Strategy: Build, lease-up, refinance into permanent state-backed loan; potential 10-year hold or portfolio sale.
- Tax Benefits: 421-P abatement (3 years full, 25-year phase-out).
- Status: property acquired, site plans submitted, preliminary sign-off from City (+ support from every relevant department incl. fire, engineering, buildings, planning, mayor)
Headline Metrics
| Metric |
Value |
| Total Project Cost |
$11.3M |
| Stabilized NOI |
$750k |
| Unlevered Yield on Cost |
6.6% |
| Cash-on-Cash |
35% |
| Hold Period |
10+ Years |
| Project IRR |
20%+ |
| Equity Multiple |
4x |
| Acquisition Price |
$552k |
| Exit Cap Rate (Assumed) |
6.25% |
| Stabilized DSCR |
1.45x |
| Equity Requirement |
~$1.25M |
| Debt |
89% LTC, 4.7% blended rate |
Capital Stack:
- Total Development Cost: $11.3M
- Equity: $1.3M (11% of total) - in talks with Ulster County on equity grant funding
- Debt: $$10.4M (89% of total) - 4.7% blended PLP+CPC (state-sponsored and philanthropic), both remain or convert to perm → eliminating takeout risk; state has underwritten project to 1.45x DSCR against 1.15x minimum
Impact:
Kingston has a 2% rental vacancy rate (for market-rate stock) and rents up 50% in 5 years. Families, teachers, and young professionals are being priced out. This project proves we can build high-quality, sustainable housing that working people can actually afford.
Why We Like This Deal
- Demand: <2% vacancy, >50% rent growth in 5 years; affordability of rents at this project should accelerate lease-up and stabilization
- Subsidies: state-backed 90% LTC financing at 4.7%. New York State looking to make this project a pilot for their PLP loan program: availability low-cost construction debt automatically converting to perm. Plus access to grant equity from Ulster County.
- Conservatively underwritten rents, exit cap.
- Sponsor vision/energy: cost-based affordability achieved through dense typography + lower on-site parking without sacrificing design or dignity. Team has 20+ years combined experience across real estate acquisitions and development. Coby is an adjunct professor at NYU and has 60k+ X/Twitter followers. Read more their vision to build 1M high-quality, beautiful, affordable homes here.