Precedent-Setting Partnerships with State Agencies Represents a Model for Integrating People with Disabilities into Affordable Housing in New York State NEW YORK, June 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen of the NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR); Priscilla Almodovar, President and Chief Executive Officer of NYS Housing Finance Agency (HFA); Michael Newman, Director, Bureau of Housing Development, OMH; Gloribel M. Cruz, Vice President, Affordable Housing Finance, HSBC Bank USA, N.A.; Bill Traylor, President, Richman Housing Resources, LLC; and Diane Louard-Michel, Director, NY Program, Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), joined Community Access and its partner, Alembic Development Company to break ground on a $37 million project that will create 105 units of affordable housing on Cedar Avenue, in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx. The intricate financial package for the project includes funding from multiple public and private sources, including DHCR, NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH), as well as the sale of $26.9 million in bonds by HFA. The project is also financed by the sale of low-income housing tax credits syndicated by Richman Housing Resources, LLC. HSBC Bank USA, N.A. provided the letter of credit and the Corporation for Supportive Housing provided a pre-development loan. As the first housing development in NYS to blend OMH and HFA funds, Cedar Avenue will establish a precedent for integrated, affordable housing in New York State. Of the 105 apartments, 55 will be available to individuals recovering from mental illness, and 50 units will be available to households earning less than 60% of the area median income. Steve Coe, the CEO of Community Access said, "when individuals with psychiatric disabilities live in the same building as families from the community, a shift occurs; the stigma associated with mental illness is lifted, and everyone begins to view each other as neighbors."
