NYS Housing Finance Agency Helps Finance Affordable Senior Apartments in Poughkeepsie

NEW YORK, NY (08/22/2007)(readMedia)-- Construction will begin on a 40-unit senior citizen residential apartment building on Cannon Street in the City of Poughkeepsie as a result of the sale of $3.35 million in bonds today by the New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA).

The bonds will finance the Cannon Street Senior Apartments located at 132-136 Cannon Street near downtown Poughkeepsie.

“I’m very proud that HFA is financing senior apartments in downtown Poughkeepsie,” said Priscilla Almodovar, President and Chief Executive Officer of HFA. “This project improves the quality of life in Poughkeepsie while reinforcing our mission of creating affordable housing for the people who need it most.”

The developer is Hudson River Housing, Inc., a not-for-profit organization.

“The Cannon Street Senior Apartments will provide both community improvement and much needed housing for the people of Poughkeepsie,” said Gail Webster, Executive Director of Hudson River Housing. “We know there are waiting lists of seniors in the Hudson Valley looking for decent affordable housing. We won’t have any trouble attracting eligible tenants.”

Cannon Street Senior Apartments will be a three-story building with 40 one-bedroom units. The site, currently vacant, is located within a block of Poughkeepsie’s main street corridor and is close to shopping, banks, churches and a major hospital.

Thirty-nine units will be set aside for households in which the members are 55 years of age or older with incomes at or below 60% of the Area Median Income for Dutchess County, which is $76,400. (Figure represents a family of four) Twenty-nine of the 39 units will be set aside for households with incomes at or below 50% of the AMI. One unit will be reserved for the superintendent.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be nearly $6.53 million, In addition to the $3.35 million HFA loan, Cannon Street Senior Apartments will receive an annual allocation of $276,123 in Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits; an HFA Subsidy Loan of $295,000; a NeighborWorks America grant of $320,000; a NYS Housing Trust Fund Homes for Working Families loan of $831,920; a Dutchess County HOME grant of $80,000; and a Dutchess County Empire Zone property tax exemption.

The State of New York Mortgage Agency will provide permanent credit enhancement.

The underwriter was George K. Baum & Co. and the bond counsel was Holland & Knight, LLP.

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HFA was created as a public benefit corporation in 1960 to finance low-income housing by raising funds through the issuance of housing revenue bonds and by making mortgage loans to eligible borrowers.

HFA Contact: Philip Lentz, Director of Communications, 212-688-4000 ext. 679, plentz@nyhomes.org

Hudson River Housing Contact: Gail Webster, Executive Director, 845-454-5176

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