"By targeting federal stimulus dollars to make the State's multi-family housing developments more energy-efficient, we can reduce energy consumption and residents' monthly utility bills, cut overall operating costs and make these buildings safer and more affordable," Governor Paterson said. "I applaud President Obama and the entire Congressional delegation for working to make this critical funding available."
Awards have been made to 12 new and existing weatherization assistance providers under the Division of Housing and Community Renewal's (DHCR) Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). Weatherization activities to be performed include: adding insulation and making buildings more weather-tight, updating heating and air conditioning systems, replacing inefficient appliances, and repairing and replacing windows. Awardees demonstrated the capacity to move quickly to weatherize entire portfolios of affordable multi-family buildings that include, for example: Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHC) developments, public housing, supportive and special needs housing, Mitchell-Lama developments, and Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-assisted projects throughout the State.
DHCR Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen said: "DHCR's Weatherization Assistance Program has been making the homes of low-income families more efficient and affordable for years. Under Governor Paterson's leadership, we are dedicated to the full utilization of this program. This stimulus funding will be used to address the specific need for weatherization in multi-family housing that is most in need of updating. Because of this stimulus funding, these buildings will be more energy-efficient and safer."
In addition to its existing network of providers, DHCR helped form partnerships with new sub grantees who have worked to identify and address entire multi-family housing portfolios.
Funding highlights include:
- $15 million to weatherize 2,143 units of LIHC and HUD portfolios in NYC. The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and Enterprise will form a partnership to deliver services and NYC's Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) will provide support.
- $9 million to weatherize 1,253 units of supportive housing and project-based Section 8 properties. The Association for Energy Affordability is partnering with the Supportive Housing Network of New York to weatherize units in NYC, Rockland, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
- $4 million to People's Equal Action and Community Effort (PEACE) to weatherize 800 units of Project-Based Section 8 housing in Onondaga and surrounding Central NY counties.
- $3.1 million to weatherize 477 units of the Rural Development Section 515 multi-family portfolio. Genesee Valley Rural Preservation Council will serve as sub grantee to weatherize the units which are located in 65 buildings across 16 sites in Livingston, Wyoming, Erie, Monroe, Orleans and Genesee Counties.
- $2.7 million to weatherize 424 units of a combination of Public Housing, LIHC, and Section 515 in Orange, Ulster and Dutchess Counties. New sub grantee Affordable Housing Concepts will provide WAP services.
- $3 million for the Community Preservation Corporation to weatherize 418 units of multi-family affordable housing across the Central and Western NY regions.
View complete list of Weatherization Multi-family Building/Temporary Subgrantee Awards
Margert Community Corporation is a participant in the AEA / Supportive Housing Network multifamily weatherization partnership.