New York State Awards $145M for Affordable Housing Projects

ALBANY—Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Dec. 16 more than $145 million has been awarded to create or preserve 1,178 affordable homes in 21 separate developments across New York. The funding will further pandemic recovery efforts, fight homelessness, help close the digital divide for lower income households, and expand access to safe and sustainable affordable housing opportunities that advance the state’s clean energy goals, state officials said,

“This $145 million investment renews our commitment to creating and preserving the safe, healthy and affordable homes that New Yorkers deserve,” Gov. Hochul said. “Our best strategy for recovery from the pandemic is ensuring that everyone has a solid roof over their head and access to the services they need to remain securely housed. With the inclusion of additional resources for clean energy development and requiring free broadband access, we are building back better than before by creating housing that promises a stronger, greener and more equitable New York today and for the future.”

The awards are being provided through New York State Homes and Community Renewal’s Multifamily Finance RFP, a competitive process used to award federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and subsidy financing for affordable and supportive multifamily housing developments. Together with an additional $394 million in public and private sources, the 21 new developments will inject $511 million in total development costs into local economies.

All 21 projects are required to meet green building standards as part of HCR’s efforts to achieve the goals set by the New York State Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The CLCPA, the most ambitious climate and energy plan in the nation, requires an 85% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2050 and eventually net zero emissions across all sectors of the economy.

Four of the awarded projects are supported by additional funding from the Clean Energy Initiative, a $7.5 million pilot program launched earlier this year by HCR and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. The Clean Energy Initiative is designed to allow more New York families to live in healthier, clean energy homes, while providing housing developers with streamlined access to technical assistance and affordable housing finance opportunities. These four projects will be all-electric and/or carbon neutral.

In addition, the developments will provide free or low-cost broadband services as part of the state’s efforts to close the digital divide in lower-income communities.

An additional $34.7 million in coordinated funding from the Homeless Housing Assistance Program, administered by the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, has been awarded to seven of the projects to aid in the development of supportive housing.

The award recipients in the New York City-Hudson Valley regions were:

New York City

$15.8 million for The Rise in Brownsville, Brooklyn. As part of the state’s Vital Brooklyn Initiative, Xenolith Partners, LLC and the Women’s Prison Association were selected to redevelop a property owned by One Brooklyn Health System. The building will include 72 affordable and supportive apartments on the upper floors and commercial space on the ground floor use by OBHS, Interfaith Medical Center’s Alternative Housing Program, and the Community Capacity Development nonprofit organization.

$10.8 million for Park Place in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood. The Vital Brooklyn initiative project will be constructed by winning development team H.E.L.P Development Corp on a surface parking lot owned by One Brooklyn Health System. The building will include 43 affordable apartments, including eight homes reserved for homeless families, and ground floor community facility space for the Women and Children Annex and other service providers.

$1.8 million for Homee in the Crotona/ Morrisania neighborhood of the Bronx. The existing 24-bed transitional housing project, operated by Urban Pathways, will be converted and expanded to a 79-apartment development. There are 55 supportive homes for seniors and adults, including individuals reentering the community following incarceration, and 20 apartments for low-income seniors. The remaining nine apartments are for low-income households.

Mid-Hudson

$9.4 million for Mount Hope Plaza in White Plains. The Mount Hope Community Development Corporation is developing the project on a parcel acquired from the Mount Hope AME Zion Church. The new apartments will include 35 homes for seniors aged 62 and older, and 20 apartments for individuals in need of supportive services. The development will also include a new parking garage for use by residents and the adjacent Mount Hope church.

$6 million for Dromore Apartments in the Town of Greenburgh. The 45-unit apartment building will be constructed on vacant land by Wilder Balter Partners and the Housing Action Council. With funding from the Clean Energy Initiative, the all-electric design will feature heat pump water heater systems for domestic hot water and an ultra-high-performance building envelope, dramatically reducing the building’s energy use.

$5.2 million for the Hamlet at Carmel in the Putnam County Village of Carmel. The project will include 75 homes across five newly constructed buildings. The apartments will be affordable to a range of incomes in an area defined as a higher opportunity neighborhood with access to high-performing schools. The developer is Kearney Realty.