Helping Communities Build
Guidance for community-based groups seeking to acquire, design and develop real estate
The Pratt Center's decades of experience in New York City neighborhood real estate development in partnership with community development groups has made us a trusted partner with organizations seeking innovative, cost-effective ways to build or renovate essential community infrastructure. We assist groups seeking affordable space for community centers, libraries, education, arts, housing, offices, and other civic purposes; help them identify unusual development opportunities; find financing from public and private sources; and collaborate on architectural plans.
Our goal is to help nonprofit community-based organizations secure permanent, environmentally sustainable space at a cost within their budgets, through projects that provide concrete benefits to their communities. We capitalize on longstanding relationships with developers, financial institutions, and government agencies to create innovative partnerships that establish influential models for collaboration, design, and neighborhood planning. Pratt Center real estate projects rely on high-quality design developed through a participatory process in cooperation with community stakeholders. Outcomes reflect neighborhood context and culture, and enhances environmental quality and sustainability.
Our Services:
Real estate finance and planning
We help nonprofits think through their space and location needs, negotiate transactions to rent, renovate or purchase real estate, and identify financial resources. In the process we help organizations prepare to operate and maintain their spaces into the future.
For more information contact Rebecca Reich, Director of Community Real Estate.
Architectural assistance
The Pratt Center provides architectural services tailored to organizations' needs, whether serving as architect of record, helping organizations plan for optimal use of their existing space, or improving energy efficiency. Our work emphasizes environmentally sustainable, affordable approaches to high-quality design and the development of innvovative practices that serve as models in New York City and nationally.
For more information, contact Lead Architect Michael Bogdanffy-Kriegh.
Energy Efficiency/Energy $mart Communities
The Pratt Center is proud to be a coordinator of the The New York Energy $martSM Communities Program of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), which helps New Yorkers make the places where they live, work and gather more energy efficient. Pratt Center works in partnership with the Neighborhood Housing Services of NYC as the coordinators of the Energy $mart Communities Program for Brooklyn and Queens. We help property owners and managers access information, training and resources to reduce their energy use and collaborate with other organizations to generate and implement projects and initiatives to make NYC more sustainable. Pratt's e-alert and web resource, Energy Matters, provides up-to-date tips and information about making NYC's million buildings more energy efficient and lists related classes and events.
For more information, contact Wendy Fleischer, Sustainability Project Manager and Coordinator, Energy $mart Communities Program.
