NYS Housing Finance Agency Approves $6.7 Mil for Poughkeepsie Mitchell Lama

Loan Will Rehabilitate and Preserve Affordability of Admiral Halsey Senior Apartments

NEW YORK, NY (07/26/2007)(readMedia)-- The board of the New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA) today approved a $6.7 million loan to finance a renovation of the 119-unit Admiral William F. Halsey Senior Village Apartments in Poughkeepsie.

The financing will enable the new owner of the project, Omni New York, LLC, to make significant improvements while keeping rents affordable. Ninety-five percent of the apartments in the Admiral Halsey project are set aside for families earning at or below $45,840, which is 60% of the Area Median Income for the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown area.

“This project launches our Mitchell Lama preservation program, which will finance significant renovations at Mitchell Lama projects across the state while keeping rents affordable for future generations,” said Priscilla Almodovar, President and Chief Executive Officer of HFA. “I’m proud we are partnering with Omni New York to protect the affordability of these senior citizen apartments in Poughkeepsie.”

The Admiral Halsey Mitchell Lama is a 13-story development located at 135 Main Street in downtown Poughkeepsie. As part of the refinancing, the current owner, the Disabled American Veterans, will sell the project to Omni New York, LLC, whose principals include Maurice “Mo” Vaughn, the former New York Mets slugger, and Eugene Schneur.

“We are very gratified to be the first project approved for New York State’s Mitchell Lama preservation program,” said Mr. Schneur. “Because of this program, Admiral Halsey will be able to undertake substantial renovation while we preserve its long-term affordability for its residents.”

Among the repairs that will be refinanced by the HFA loan will be replacement of the existing boilers with an energy efficient gas system, a new roof, new windows, new kitchen appliances, bathroom upgrades in some apartments, upgrades of the elevators, sidewalk repairs, and general landscaping. Tenants in most cases will not be displaced while work is undertaken.

The total cost of the project is nearly $12.4 million. In addition to the $6.7 million HFA mortgage, Admiral Halsey will receive an annual $233,269 Section 236 Interest Reduction Payment (IRP) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; an annual allocation of $415,703 in federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits; and an HFA Subsidy Loan of $3.98 million.

The project has also received a property tax abatement from the City of Poughkeepsie. Eligible tenants are expected to receive enhanced Section 236 vouchers to help pay the cost of their rent.

The Admiral Halsey project was originally built in 1976 using HUD’s Section 236 IRP financing. Under this program, affordable rental units are developed with low-interest mortgage loans and property tax exemptions in exchange for limits on developer profit and tenant income limits.

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The NYS Housing Finance Agency was created in 1960 to sell bonds to finance the construction and rehabilitation of multi-family affordable rental housing in New York State.

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