NEW YORK, NY - The boards of the New York State Housing Finance Agency and the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation Wednesday approved $12 million in financing to renovate 186 affordable housing units in Westchester County. HFA approved the issuance of tax-exempt bonds to fund a $11.75 million mortgage that will finance capital improvements at the College Arms Apartments, a 164-unit federally-financed affordable apartment building located in the Village of Sleepy Hollow.
The HFA financing will enable the borrower, an entity controlled by Marathon Development Group LLC, to purchase the College Arms Apartments and undertake renovations of the 10-story apartment building. Improvements will include repairing boilers, modernizing elevators and ventilation systems, installing new appliances and fixtures in individual apartments and improvements to common areas.
Tenants will be able to remain in their apartments during the renovations. The units will be reserved for tenants with household incomes under $60,960 for a family of four. The total development cost is $21.1 million. In addition to the HFA financing, the project will receive project-based Section 8 payments; an annual allocation of $730,140 in Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits; and subordination of a Department of Housing and Urban Development capital loan of nearly $2 million.
In addition, the project, which was built in 1972, expects to reach a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with the Town of Mount Pleasant, where the Village of Sleepy Hollow is located. AHC approved a $300,000 grant to the Housing Action Council for home improvements on 22 homes throughout Westchester County. The assistance will go to owners of single-family and two-family homes as well as co-ops and condos.
The grant will finance improvements to bring the properties up to code compliance and increase energy efficiency, such as replacing roofs, doors, windows, and siding, and upgrading electrical, heating, and plumbing systems. The grant awards are limited to households earning up to $91,034 for a family of four. Eligible applicants will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis.
The total cost of the home improvement program will be $500,000. In addition to the AHC grant and the individual homeowners' share, the project will be financed with $60,000 from the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority provided by the Community Environmental Center and $112,220 in Lead Safe Westchester funds provided by the Westchester County Department of Planning.
Source: MidHudsonNews.com