Half-million dollar grants awarded in Albany, Troy
The public housing authorities in Albany and Troy are among the recipients of grants through the state Preservation Opportunities Program, created by Enterprise Community Partners and the Office of the Attorney General.
Each housing authority will receive up $500,000 in reimbursements through the grant. In Albany, the money will go toward “pre-development costs,” at Steamboat Square, Ida Yarbrough phase 4 and North Albany Homes, said Steve Longo, Executive Director of the Albany Housing Authority.
Pre-development includes architectural fees, engineering surveys, legal title reports, environmental impact assessments and engaging the community. More than 670 of the 2,500 apartments managed by the Albany Housing Authority are supported by multiple funding sources based on tax credits – outside federal housing subsidies.
Tom Hulihan, director of planning and program development at the Troy Housing Authority, said he will also use the money to host meetings between tenants and design professionals to hear what tenants want to see built.
Much of Troy’s public housing stock was built between 1950 and 1980, Hulihan said, and was built to maximize the number of apartments in the space. Not enough care was given at the time, Hulihan said, to play spaces for children. As part of ongoing redevelopment at the Martin Luther King apartments, the housing authority reduced the number of apartments from 124 to 87 to free up room for a community center, playground and basketball court.
Longo said he welcomed the grant, secured by a consultant works with, Edgemere Development, because applications for historic and affordable housing tax credits require a lot of work before an application can even be filed, making it “high-risk spending” when Longo can’t be certain the housing authority will succeed in getting the money.
In addition to the Troy and Albany housing authorities, Rochester, Binghamton, Plattsburgh, Buffalo, the village of Potsdam, Niagara Falls, Syracuse and Wayne County received grants through the Preservation Opportunities Program.
