NYS Affordable Housing Corporation Approves $625,000 Grant to Finance 25 Affordable Co-ops in New York City

NEW YORK, NY (06/10/2010)(readMedia)-- The board of the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation (AHC) today approved a $625,000 grant to the Housing Partnership Development Corporation to help finance the construction of 25 affordable co-op apartments in New York City.

"This grant will create new affordable homeownership opportunities in New York City," said Brian E. Lawlor, AHC President and CEO. "It furthers Governor Paterson's mission of creating affordable housing even in difficult economic times."

The AHC grant will help finance the construction of an eight-story, 57-unit co-op apartment building at 152 East 118th Street in the East Harlem section of Manhattan. Twenty-five of the apartments will be affordable and financed by the AHC grant. Nine studios will be targeted for families with household incomes under $93,450 for a family of two, and 16 one-bedroom apartments will be reserved for families with household incomes under $105,910 for a family of two.

The building will feature a community facility space to be sold to a local, nonprofit organization, as well as a garage for 25 parking spaces. All of the residential units will be designed with an open floor plan that offers kitchen spaces that open to living room areas, separated by low walls, providing a more spacious environment. The project is being developed as part of New York City's New Housing Opportunities Program. The developer is the Bluestone Organization.

The total cost of the project is $11 million. In addition to the AHC grant, the project will receive more than $1.7 million in capital funds from the NYC Housing Development Corporation (HDC), a bond loan of $936,404 provided by HDC, and $1.87 million in capital funds provided as a crossover subsidy from the sale of the market rate units.

____

AHC, a subsidiary of the NYS Housing Finance Agency, was established in 1985 to promote homeownership by low- and moderate-income households. Financial assistance approved annually by the New York State Legislature, combined with other private and public investment, is used for the construction, acquisition, rehabilitation and improvement of owner-occupied housing.

###