NEW YORK, NY – June 4, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — The board of the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation (AHC) today approved $2.27 million in grants to two nonprofit organizations to help acquire and rehabilitate 96 affordable homes on Long Island.
“These grants support innovative programs designed to help Long Islanders purchase and renovate homes that they can afford,” said Priscilla Almodovar, AHC President and Chief Executive Officer. “The grants also promote workforce housing, which helps employees find homes near to where they work. These programs reinforce Governor David A. Paterson’s mission to make New York State a better place to live and work.”
LIHP
AHC approved a $1.75 million grant to the Long Island Housing Partnership (LIHP) for the acquisition and rehabilitation of 80 homes in Nassau and Suffolk Counties as part of its “workforce housing” program.
The grant will help fund the fourth phase of the Partnership’s Employer Assisted Housing Program. Under the program, employers-working with Nassau and Suffolk Counties- provide funds to help employees purchase affordable homes. Participating employers include North Shore Long Island Jewish Health Systems, Our Lady of Consolation Geriatric Care Center of West Islip and Computer Associates.
The project is designed to recruit and retain qualified employees by helping them purchase safe and affordable housing. This program provides “workforce housing” for individuals who earn too much to qualify for traditional “low-income” homeownership programs yet can’t afford to purchase a home close to where they work. Employers donate a minimum of $3,000 toward mortgage reduction, which is met on a three-to-one basis by the NYS HELP Long Island Fund.
The grants will be limited to households earning up to $122,160 for a family of four.
The total cost of the project is $24 million, which will be funded by AHC, homebuyer mortgages, homebuyer equity, employer contributions and other subsidies. In addition to the AHC grant, the program will be funded by $300,000 in HOME funds provided by Suffolk County; $100,000 in HOME Funds provided by Nassau County; and $720,000 in NYS HELP Long Island funds provided by New York State through the Partnership.
CDCLI
AHC approved a $520,000 grant to Community Development Corporation of Long Island (CDCLI) for the acquisition and rehabilitation of 16 single-family homes in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
The program is designed to develop affordable homeownership opportunities for first-time buyers and improve the existing housing stock throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties. CDCLI will acquire some of the homes from the counties, rehabilitate them and make them available to low-income first-time homebuyers.
CDCLI will also work with homebuyers to find homes and assess the renovation work that will be needed and evaluate the costs. Grant awards will be limited to households earning up to $122,160 for a family of four.
The total cost of the project is more than $4.3 million which will be funded by AHC, homeowner mortgages and homeowner equity.
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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.
Contact: Philip Lentz
Director of Communications
212-872-0679
plentz (at) nyhomes (dot) org
