Asma Gindina in her apartment at 99 Vandalia Avenue operated by Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. Photo by Steven White.
LISC NYC is pleased to announce a new program, covered in a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, which will help nonprofit owners of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 202 senior housing for very low-income seniors to preserve their buildings. LISC NYC’s New York Land Opportunity Program 2.0 (NYLOP 2.0) will provide free technical assistance to six nonprofit organizations with HUD 202 properties in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan, with over 1,000 senior housing units.
The article also includes an interview with a member of the NYLOP 2.0 cohort, West Harlem Group Assistance (WHGA), which is looking to preserve a 66-unit HUD 202 building, Joseph Yancey Houses, in West Harlem. WHGA and its property manager, Phipps Houses, estimate that the building will need more than $1 million in capital improvements, including bathroom upgrades to make them age-friendly, new air conditioning, window replacements and facade work.
LISC NYC developed NYLOP 2.0 to help nonprofits like West Harlem Group Assistance to respond to recent federal statutory changes to the HUD Section 202 program which will provide owners with project rental assistance contracts (PRAC) the opportunity to access, for the first time, long-term financing for capital improvements to their buildings. HUD’s expansion of the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program will enable Section 202 housing owners to convert their existing contracts to Section 8 contracts, allowing them to qualify for capital improvement loans.
Continue to full article in The Wall Street Journal
More about NYLOP 2.0
LISC NYC’s NYLOP 2.0 will provide participating nonprofits with free technical assistance to convert their HUD Section 202 senior housing developments to a new legal structure that will make them eligible to apply for financing and Low Income Housing Tax Credits. LISC NYC will help these building owners to interpret HUD's guidelines, prepare a capital needs assessment, create a financial plan with underwriting that meets HUD's guidelines, compile documentation, and comply with HUD's requirements, including environmental assessments and tenant notifications.
Congratulations to the following organizations selected for assistance through NYLOP 2.0:
· Belmont Arthur Local Development Corporation in the Bronx
· Bethany HDFC in Manhattan
· Casa Victoria HDFC in Manhattan
· Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty in Brooklyn and the Bronx
· Wartburg HDFC in Brooklyn
· West Harlem Group Assistance in Manhattan
NYLOP is a LISC NYC partnership with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Mayor’s Center for Faith and Community Partnerships.
LISC NYC is grateful for critical seed funding from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation and The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, as well as generous support from BankUnited, Capital One, M&T Bank, Santander Bank and Valley National Bank.